More than three-dozen people have been injured as a charter bus hit an overpass on New York's Southern State Parkway, police said.
There were 38 students, ages 16 to 18, five chaperones and a driver aboard the bus Sunday night when the vehicle struck the overpass.
The bus was traveling eastbound on the Southern State, which does not allow commercial traffic, when the crash occurred.
Maj. David Candelaria of the New York State Police characterized one of the injuries as very serious and said five others were serious.
He said 37 others suffered injuries consistent with cuts and bruises.
The victims were taken to five different hospitals.
"We’re very lucky. This could have been tragic," Candelaria said.
The roof of the bus was sheared off in the crash.
Candelaria said the driver of the bus, which is operated by Journey Bus Lines of Irvington, N.J., is not from the area and likely did not understand the Long Island parkway system and its restriction of trucks and buses.
The New York State Police Department said the driver would undergo drug and alcohol testing.
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