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PLATTEKILL - State Police are responding after a bus carrying approximately two dozen people overturned Tuesday on the state Thruway.
The crash occurred around 9:21 a.m. between Exit 18 near New Paltz and Exit 17 near Newburgh on Interstate 87 southbound, State Police spokeswoman Krista Montie confirmed. About 23 passengers were on the bus. No life-threatening injuries occurred, she said.
State Police said 17 of the people on the bus were spared injury. Passengers who were injured were taken to the hospital or evaluated by paramedics at the scene.
"All I remember is seeing it going off the road and saying, ‘This is not going to be good,'" Matt Miller, 66, of Monticello, said while drying off at a gas station on his way home.
Miller had been driving behind the bus in torrential rain when he saw it slow down and careen off the road, landing on its left side. He pulled over and managed to get the bus's windshield off and the driver out, before clearing a path for others to exit. He said he walked down the bus' left wall and windows to lead people out.
Other passersby, including a group of U.S. Army soldiers, arrived to help as well. Miller, a retired construction supervisor and U.S. Army officer, said the response from police, firefighters and emergency medical workers "was all textbook."
"It was the perfect response," he said.
Police said the crash occurred on the southbound side of the highway in the Ulster County town of Plattekill near the Orange County border. The left lanes of both the southbound and northbound sides of the highway remained closed after 11 a.m. Traffic in the area was moving slowly.
Miller said around three people had injuries, which appeared to be minor. He was glad to see others stopping to help, with everyone playing a role: He got a tarp out to shield the passengers from the rain; one woman grabbed a roll of toilet paper to treat the injured passengers' cuts.
"There's still good people out there," he said. "There are still Good Samaritans in the world."
Several agencies responded to the scene. Montie said more details will likely be released later Tuesday.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
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