2 killed, 20 injured after bus crashes, flips over median in New York

Two people were killed and another 20 people were injured when a coach bus carrying passengers crashed into other vehicles and flipped over a median into oncoming traffic late the night of June 29, authorities in New York said.

Police said they responded to the crash on the Long Island Expressway at about 11:45 p.m. ET. The bus, driven by an unidentified 35-year-old man, was traveling westbound on the Long Island Expressway when it collided with another vehicle, causing that vehicle to collide with a third in a chain reaction, near the exit at Greenpoint Avenue, the New York Police Department said in a statement.

"The initial collision then caused the bus to flip over the median onto oncoming eastbound traffic," police said.

After flipping over the median, it collided with two more vehicles traveling the opposite direction, police said.

The driver of the coach bus was killed, along with one of its passengers, according to the NYPD. Three other drivers struck in the collisions were taken to hospitals in stable condition, and one driver was in critical condition. All the other passengers of the bus were also taken to hospitals, police said. Victims' identities were not released by authorities.

In total, 20 people were taken to hospitals with injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department. Three had critical injuries, two had serious injuries and 15 were in stable condition, the fire department said in a statement. The fire department said it took until 1:58 a.m. on June 30 to get the situation under control.

The crash caused all lanes of the Long Island Expressway in both directions to be closed into the morning hours of June 30, and traffic headed to the Queens borough was being redirected, city officials said. Commuters should expect residual delays on June 30, the city's emergency notification system said.

The crash is being investigated, officials said.