Batavia, N.Y. — The driver who was behind the wheel of a tour bus that crashed on the New York State Thruway in Genesee County last summer, killing five passengers and injuring the driver and 48 others, now faces charges.
Police said the bus was returning from Niagara Falls to New York City with 54 people on board, including the driver, when the driver became distracted and the bus overturned.
Bin Shao, 56, of New York City was arraigned Friday in Genesee County Court after being indicted by a grand jury on five counts of criminally negligent homicide and five counts of manslaughter.
BACKGROUND: Heartbreak on the Thruway: Eyewitness recounts haunting moments of tour bus tragedy | Family’s vacation turns tragic after tour bus crash on way back home
The bus, a 2005 motorcoach owned by Staten Island-based M&Y Tours Inc., was traveling east on the Thruway in Pembroke Aug. 22 around 12:20 p.m. when it veered off the roadway and onto the right shoulder, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report. The bus then went back onto the road and continued into the grassy median area before swerving back into the eastbound lanes, turning counterclockwise and rolling onto its right side. The vehicle came to rest with its front end on the shoulder and edge of the road.
New York State Police Captain Daniel Howard said Shao was taken into custody Wednesday in Putnam Valley, about 47 miles north of Flushing, Queens, where Shao lives.
“State police worked in coordination with numerous agencies and specialized units throughout this extensive investigation,” Howard said. “Investigators conducted interviews with passengers, hospital staff and witnesses. We processed a multitude of digital evidence, and the incident was reconstructed by the Troop A collision reconstruction unit.”
Shao was booked Thursday night in the Genesee County Jail, according to jail records. He pleaded not guilty Friday and was held on $100,000 bail. His next court date is scheduled for March 9.
District Attorney Kevin Finnell declined to discuss specific details of the investigation but said Shao was the only person charged in the case.
“There is no evidence of drug or alcohol impairment,” Finnell said. “The charges stem from the decisions made and the actions taken by Mr. Shao as he operated the bus on the New York State Thruway in Pembroke.”
Howard noted the passengers on the bus were from a total of seven countries, including the U.S.
The five people killed in the crash were identified as:
- Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India
- Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey
- Xie Hongzhuo, 22, of Beijing, China, a student at Columbia University in New York City
- Zhang Xiaolan, 55 of Jersey City, New Jersey
- Jian Mingli, 56 of Jersey City, New Jersey
“The logistics of presenting all the charges for injured people who are scattered throughout the world were significant,” Finnell said. “The charges Mr. Shao was indicted with are the most serious charges that could come out of this incident, and we felt that that was adequate to hold him accountable for his actions on that day.”
