As first appeared in NewsBreak
By Aron Solomon
Wawayanda, Orange County, New York
A tragic accident occurred on Thursday afternoon when a bus carrying students from Farmingdale High School in Nassau County, Long Island, to a band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania, overturned on Interstate 84 in Wawayanda, Orange County, New York.
The bus was one of six transporting students from the Farmingdale School District. At least one person has been confirmed dead, and 43 others were taken to hospitals. As of the time of publication, five of the injured passengers are in critical condition.
The accident happened at 1:12 p.m., just outside of Middletown. The bus rolled down an embankment and came to rest on its side in a heavily wooded area. Interstate 84 was closed at exit 15 while authorities investigated the scene. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has sent the Division of Homeland Security to assist local authorities with the investigation.
The Farmingdale Union Free School District confirmed that one of its buses was involved in the crash. Injured students are being taken to Orange County Community’s Diana Physical Education Building in Middletown for reunification with their families. The other five buses carrying students from Farmingdale High School are now heading back to Long Island, with a stop on the way for students to meet with grief counselors.
As bus accident attorney Harold Gerr said when asked about the tragic events, “Because this is just the beginning of the process and the accident will be under investigation for a while, any of the families involved should meet with an experienced lawyer as soon as possible so they can understand their rights under the law.”
All of the major New York and national news outlets will provide further updates as more information becomes available.
About Aron Solomon
A Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, Aron Solomon, JD, is the Chief Legal Analyst for Esquire Digital and the Editor-in-Chief for Today’s Esquire. He has taught entrepreneurship at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania, and was elected to Fastcase 50, recognizing the top 50 legal innovators in the world. Aron has been featured in Forbes, CBS News, CNBC, USA Today, ESPN, TechCrunch, The Hill, BuzzFeed, Fortune, Venture Beat, The Independent, Fortune China, Yahoo!, ABA Journal, Law.com, The Boston Globe, YouTube, NewsBreak, and many other leading publications.
