Crime & Safety

Queens Bus Crash Leaves 3 Dead, 16 Injured; New Video Shows Moment Of Impact

A private tour bus slammed into an MTA bus early Monday.

FLUSHING, QUEENS — A tour coach with a history of safety violations slammed into a city bus in Queens Monday, killing three people and leaving 16 more hurt, authorities said.

The vehicles collided as the MTA bus turned right from Main Street onto Northern Boulevard, in Flushing, around 6:15 a.m. One of the dead was a pedestrian who "was simply walking down the sidewalk," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Another was the tour bus driver and the third a passenger on the MTA bus, NYPD Assistant Chief Juanita Holmes said.

Security camera footage shared on Twitter shows the MTA bus slowly making a right turn, while the tour bus barrels down Nothern Boulevard:

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De Blasio, speaking at a press conference near the scene of the crash, said several of the people hurt "are fighting for their lives right now."

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The MTA bus driver is in the hospital in non-critical condition, according to MTA Chairman Joe Lhota. A total of 15 people were on the MTA bus, Lhota said.

"It's a sad day when three fellow New Yorkers perish while they're getting to work," Lhota told reporters. "We're very concerned about the speed, but most importantly the safety. And we want to make sure that we understand what happened and we prevent this from ever happening again."

The bus is owned by Dahlia Travel and Tour, the same company that owned the bus that overturned on its way to Mohegan Sun casino in February last year. That accident left 14 passengers hurt.

Dahlia has been given seven driving violations in the past two years, including five for speeding, one for improper passing and one of unlawful parking, federal records show.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also had a record of a fatal accident involving Dahlia in the past two years, though details were unavailable.

Both buses appear to have sustained heavy damage in Monday's collision.

Drivers should expect heavy traffic in the area, New York City's Office of Emergency Management said on Twitter.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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