2 Killed, 17 Injured When Megabus on Way to Philadelphia Crashes

By Rodrigo Torrejón
From The Philadelphia Inquirer

Two people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured when a Megabus on its way to Philadelphia overturned on the New Jersey Turnpike Tuesday night.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, the New Jersey State Police responded to a bus crash at the Thomas Edison Service Area entrance ramp, in Woodbridge, the state police said. Police on Wednesday afternoon confirmed two people died and 17 were injured, three seriously. Authorities previously said there was one fatality.

New Jersey State Police said the double-decker bus was driving south in the left lane when it crashed into a Ford pick-up truck that was driving in the left-center lane. The bus driver lost control and hit the Ford, at which point the bus went off the road, hitting a guardrail and overturning.

There were 22 passengers and one driver on the bus that was on its way to Philadelphia from New York City, state police said.

The people who died were identified as Cheryl Johnson, 59, of Bronx, New York, and Cecilia Kiyanitza, 66, of Woodbury, New York. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene, while Kiyanitza was airlifted to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead.

The driver of the bus, a 56-year-old man from Westville, New Jersey, was one of those who suffered serious injuries. The driver of the Ford pickup truck was unharmed.

New Jersey State Police continue to investigate the crash.

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