Tour Bus Flips On I-80 Exit Ramp, 8 Critically Hurt

A tour bus on its way to Manhattan from Toronto overturned Saturday morning on the Interstate 80 exit ramp to Route 46 in Wayne, sending 12 passengers —including eight in critical condition — to area hospitals, Wayne Police said. 

The eight critical patients were taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, St. Joseph's spokeswoman Liz Asani said. Four other patients were taken to St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital in fair condition, she added. A total of 19 people were injured.

UPDATE: All but three passengers treated and released by Sunday morning; remaining passengers listed in fair condition. 

Wayne Police Det./Capt. Jim Clarke said 12 passengers were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Three passengers had to be extricated by firefighters because they had become entangled in window frames, Clarke said.

The bus ended up on its side in a grassy area off of the ramp at about 7:50 a.m. after trying to avoid a vehicle that cut it off, according to a report on NJ.com. Most of the passengers were able to get out through the emergency exits, and others climbed out through the broken windshield, a passenger told NJ.com.

The bus was operated by AVM Max2000 Charter services of Toronto, according to a report on NorthJersey.com. A company spokeswoman said the bus was filled, but she wouldn't specify how many people were on it.

Exit 53 on I-80 was closed as state police at the scene investigated the accident. 

Passengers interviewed by NJ.com were members of the Seventh Day Adventist church on the way to an event in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The incident is the fourth tour bus accident in the tri-state area since May, including a crash on the New England Thruway in New Rochelle, N.Y., which sent 24 people to hospitals, and a Sept. 7 incident on the George Washington Bridge in which 16-year-old Daniel Fernandez, of Queens, N.Y., was killed. No injuries were reported after a May 17 crash between an oil tanker and a bus on the New Jersey Turnpike.