43 Hurt as Bus Carrying NY Teens Hits Overpass

A charter bus carrying teenagers returning from a spring break trip Sunday night struck a bridge overpass on Long Island, seriously injuring six passengers and mangling the entire length of the top of the bus, the AP reports. The crash happened shortly after 9pm Sunday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview, according to New York State Police. One of the six injured passengers has very serious injuries, says State Police Maj. David Candelaria. Thirty-seven other passengers suffered minor injuries. "Everybody was able to walk out except one, [whom] we extricated," says Lakeview Fire Department Chief Patrick McNeill. "There was glass everywhere. The roof of the bus is down to the top of the seat covers."

Video shows teenagers sitting and standing outside of the damaged white bus, some draped in blankets, as firefighters inspect the wreckage. Multiple ambulances and firetrucks responded to the scene. The 38 students from various Long Island high schools, along with five chaperones, had just returned from John F. Kennedy International Airport and were heading to a shopping mall to meet up with parents, police say. The driver, who's being evaluated, didn't seem to be familiar with commercial vehicle restrictions on the parkway, where the minimum clearance is 7 feet 10 inches, police say.

This guy is really inexperienced