Bus crash in Queens, New York kills 3, injures 16

A charter bus driven by a man who had been fired two years ago by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority barreled through an intersection in Queens early Monday and collided with a New York City bus, killing the charter bus driver and two other people and injuring 16 others, the authorities said.

The driver, Raymond D. Mong, lost his job operating buses for the city in 2015 after he slammed his sedan into two other cars on Interstate 95 in New Haven and then fled the accident scene, according to the police and the M.T.A. He received a suspended jail sentence and was placed on probation for 18 months after being convicted of driving under the influence and evading arrest.

A video posted to social media on Monday showed the charter bus plowing through an intersection in Flushing and slamming into the city bus that had just turned onto Northern Boulevard.

Henry Wdowiak, 68, a pedestrian who was trapped underneath one of the buses, died at the scene. Gregory Liljefors, 55, a passenger on the city bus, and Mr. Mong, 49, died after being taken to separate hospitals, according to the New York City Police Department.

“We’ve had a really tragic morning here in Flushing, Queens,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “It’s just shocking to see the scene over there. Hard to compare it to anything I’ve ever seen — the sheer destruction from the impact of the collision.”

The city bus, a Q20, and the charter bus, which is run by Dahlia Travel and Tours, crashed around 6:15 a.m. at Main Street and Northern Boulevard, said Lee Jones, a Police Department spokesman.

Officials said the city bus was making a right-hand turn when it was struck by the private bus, and then the private bus crashed into a restaurant, igniting a small fire inside.

The fire department said more than a dozen were injured after the collision.

Some of them were in critical condition and fighting for their life right now, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference.

The collision has caused heavy traffic delays.

(THE NEW YORK TIMES & ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)