‘I just ran to the bus’: Witness says he helped passengers in fatal bus crash on I-490

CHILE, NY – The bus crash on Chile’s I-490 is now a fatal crash investigation after the most seriously injured passenger died Thursday evening after hours of surgery, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office has not released the name of the deceased passenger or the bus driver. The driver received four fines, including one for driving while tired.

News10NBC investigative journalist Berkeley Brean drove along Section 490 in Chile on Friday. He saw the skid marks of the cars and trucks slamming their brakes behind the bus. And the scratches on the highway from the bus after it overturned. The bus skidded for almost 200 meters before stopping.

Sheriff Todd Baxter talked about all the people who sat in traffic behind the bus and became first responders. Cameron Austin was one of them, driving home from the gym behind a tractor-trailer.

“And then everyone suddenly hit the brakes,” Austin said. “Because I turned next to the semi and I saw the bus on its side.”

“I didn’t even call 911. I just ran to the bus,” Austin said. “I remember helping that one guy. He put his legs through the hatch and fell backwards. I remember grabbing his right leg and pulling him out and down so he could sit up in the van and slide out.”

Sheriff Baxter praised the efforts of people like Austin who stopped to help people who were dazed, seriously injured and far from home. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office sent a letter of thanks to the community for its response to the crash.

The bus driver was ticketed for fatigued driving, unsafe speed, unsafe lane changes and not wearing a seat belt. Now that someone was dead, Berkeley asked the sheriff’s office if that changed anything.

He also asked the sheriff’s office for the driver’s name and if we needed to go to Chili Town Court for more charges. The response he got was that they have shared everything they could share publicly and they are still investigating.

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