Columbia student among 5 victims ID'd in upstate NY tour bus crash

Muri Assuncao, New York Daily News on Aug 23, 2025

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All five people killed in a tour bus crash in upstate New York on Friday afternoon have been identified, authorities said Saturday.

The victims include a Columbia University student, three New Jersey residents and one Indian national, according to New York State Police.

They were identified as Xie Hongzhuo, a 22-year-old Columbia student originally from Beijing; Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey.; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, and Jian Mingli, 56, both from Jersey City; and Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhubani, India.

The 2005 Van Hool motor coach was traveling eastbound on the New York State Thruway, from Niagara Falls to New York City, when it rolled over after hitting a median and wound up in a ditch on the side of the road.

The bus was carrying 54 people — the driver, a tour guide and 52 passengers — ranging in age from 1 to 74, officials said.

The collision, which occurred just before 1 p.m. between exits 48A and 49 in Pembroke, happened “for reasons yet to be determined,” Thomas Chapman, member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

“As a result of the crash, multiple occupants were ejected from the motor coach,” he said, adding some of them were “very seriously” injured.

According to state troopers, dozens of victims were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries ranging from head trauma to broken arms and legs.

The driver, 55-year-old Bin Shao, of Queens, New York, was “alive and well,” New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan said on Friday.

On Saturday, officials confirmed that Shao showed no signs of intoxication at the time of the crash, but said the NTSB would be looking into the driver’s “fatigue, distraction (and) qualifications.”

Investigators will also look into whether passengers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. Police on Friday had said it appeared that most of them were not.

While the 20-year-old bus was “in bad shape,” it did appear to have been equipped with seatbelts, Chapman noted.

“Part of our investigation will be to determine the extent to which seatbelts were being used and whether a lack of seatbelt use may have contributed to some passengers being ejected,” he said.

Chapman added they would also be investigating the “operations and oversight of the motor carrier.”

M&Y Tour Inc., the Staten Island-based company that operates the bus, has been cooperating with investigators, he said.

Preliminary findings from the NTSB investigation are expected in about 30 days, though a final report could take up to two years.

No charges had been filed as of Saturday evening.