A Long Island high school student in a fatal bus crash in upstate New York recalled a living nightmare of waking up screaming — then jumping from a window as rescuers pulled her classmates from the wreckage with “blood everywhere.”
Farmingdale High School student Anthony Eugenio, 15, said he was “sleeping” on his way to a marching band event in Pennsylvania on Thursday when he woke up when the bus hit the sidewalk before plunging 50 feet into a ravine.
“I woke up, but I didn’t know I was awake – I thought I was still in a dream,” he said shortly after the crash that killed two of his teachers and left five students in critical condition.
“I was like, ‘This can’t be real’ … and then I heard everyone screaming.”
Eugenio said he still thought he was just having a nightmare “until I felt pain in my leg.”
“I don’t remember if I was thrown,” he said. “I had to – I don’t remember.”
Anthony Eugenio, a student at Farmingdale High School on Long Island, told of the horror he faced on an overturned bus in upstate New York Thursday.AP
The vehicle overturned on the pavement on Interstate 84 near Wawayanda in Orange County and fell 50 feet down a ravine.©New York Post
The bus eventually stopped next to him under the I-84 overpass, and Eugenio had to jump out the window to escape.
Minutes later, he said, first responders were on the scene pulling his classmate out of the wreckage.
“As soon as I raised my head,” said Eugenio, he saw “the child next to me covered in blood. I saw blood everywhere.”
Farmingdale band director Gina Pellettiere, a 43-year-old single mother, and Beatrice Ferrari, 77, a history teacher also known as the marching band’s “grandma,” were killed in the crash.
Five students were also seriously injured.
Their condition was unclear as of Friday morning.
Farmingdale High School band director Gina Pellettiere was killed in the collision.Instagram/Farmingdale High School
Beatrice Ferrari, 77, a history teacher who was also known as the “grandmother” of the marching band, was also killed.
The bus, operated by Regency Transportation, was one of six trips with group members to the camp.
Pictures from the scene show the horrific aftermath, with the bus on its side at the bottom of a slope surrounded by trees.
First responders apparently used a ladder to climb over the side of the bus to help the victim.
Regency has failed seven of 31 vehicle inspections over the past two years, according to online state DOT records.
It is unclear what led to the failure.
Students board the bus for the annual band camp trip.Instagram/Farmingdale High School
The company received a satisfactory rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, records show.
Regency, which has 14 drivers and eight vehicles, had one accident that resulted in one injury in the past two years before Thursday, according to US Department of Transportation records.
Gov. Kathy Hochul suggested Thursday night that the crash appeared to be caused by a “defective front tire.”
Regency has failed seven of 31 vehicle inspections over the past two years, according to online state DOT records. It is unclear what led to the failure. Dennis A. Clark
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Friday evening, officials from the National Transit Safety Board arrived at the scene to conduct their own federal investigation for the next five to seven days.
NTSB investigator John Humm told reporters the agency will investigate three different categories of factors in the crash:
- Vehicle factors, such as mechanical problems with the bus or tires;
- Factor motor carriers such as drivers and bus companies and how they comply with federal regulations;
- and survival factors such as “bus general crashworthiness” and emergency response.
“Generally in many accidents, there is more than one cause, so there may be several factors that cause an accident like this,” Humm said.
“Our goal is to find out what happened, why it happened and to make safety recommendations to reduce the chance of accidents like this happening again.”
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
