2 killed in Megabus crash in New Jersey

A deadly crash involving a double-decker Megabus and another vehicle is being investigated by New Jersey State Police, the agency said Wednesday. The Tuesday crash left two dead and at least fourteen injured, according to officials. 

The crash occurred on the New Jersey Turnpike in Woodbridge Township around 6:53 p.m. According to New Jersey State Police, a “Van Hool double-decker Coach bus” carrying 22 passengers was traveling southbound when the driver lost control and struck a Ford truck that had been traveling next to it. 

“Based on the preliminary investigation, the bus driver lost directional control of the bus in the area of milepost 93.2 and struck the Ford,” New Jersey State Police said in a statement Wednesday. “After the impact, the bus went off the road to the right, struck the guardrail, and overturned onto the Thomas Edison Service Area entrance ramp.”

The two deceased victims have been identified as Bronx resident Cheryl Johnson, 59, and New Jersey resident Cecilia Kiyanitza, 66. Both were passengers on the bus. 

The bus driver, a 56-year-old man from Westville, New Jersey, and two other passengers suffered “serious injuries,” according to police. At least fourteen other passengers on the bus sustained non-life-threatening injuries and four passengers were unharmed.

The driver of the Ford truck was uninjured, police said.

Police have not given any indication as to what caused the driver to lose control. Attendants at a nearby gas station who witnessed the crash’s aftermath told CBS New York it was a chaotic situation.   

The National Transportation Safety Board will not be investigating the crash.