Several of the 36 people who were injured when a charter bus heading to Mohegan Sun Casino flipped onto its side on snow-covered Interstate 95 in Madison, Connecticut on Monday afternoon remain hospitalized on Tuesday.
Officials from Mohegan Sun said the Dahlia charter bus — based in New York — was en route to the Uncasville casino around 12:20 p.m. on Monday when it rolled over on I-95 north, between the exit 61 off-ramp and the on-ramp.
The driver told police he was merging from from the left lane to right lane and lost control on the snow-covered road and hit the metal barrier.
The highway was shut down for around four-and-a-half hours and crews were able to get the bus back on its tires around 3:30 p.m. The highway reopened around 5 p.m.
The bus was carrying about 55 people, including the driver, according to state police, and video from the scene captured the frightening ordeal. It showed several people climbing out of the front and top of the bus.
Ambulances lined the highway and transported passengers to nearby hospitals, including Yale-New Haven Hospital, Saint Raphael's and Middlesex Hospital. At least four of the patients remain in critical condition on Tuesday, hospital staff members said during a news conference on Tuesday.
Several of the patients do not speak English and have been using interpreters to speak with medical staff.
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Dr. Kimberly Davis, vice chair of the department of surgery and the chief of general surgery and trauma and critical care at Yale-New Haven Hospital, said they shut down for a little while on Monday in anticipation of the influx of patients, but resumed normal operations fairly quickly.
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On Tuesday, officials from Yale-New Haven Hospital said they initially received 16 patients, including four of whom were in critical, and 12 in non-critical condition. The four critical patients and one who was in non-critical condition were admitted.
Then, six more patients from the emergency department of Middlesex Hospital were transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital. Three patients were in critical condition and were admitted.
As of Wednesday, three patients at Yale-New Haven were still listed as critical, while two are non-critical.
Davis described the injuries as "thoracic," or chest, rib fractures, lung injuries and injuries of that nature.
"Obviously, a number of bone fractures, and a couple of more critical vascular injuries and things along those lines," she said. While the patients are in critical condition, their injuries are not considered life-threatening at this point.
Some patients were going home on Tuesday, Davis said, while others will remain for extended periods of time.
Dr. Andy Ulrich, operations director for the department of emergency medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital, said this was potentially a very dangerous and life-threatening accident.
“In other circumstances, where the care wasn’t as good, certainly people could have died,” he said.
The Yale-New Haven Shoreline Medical Center received four patients who were all non-critical two were admitted.
The New Haven-Yale Saint Raphael campus received one patient.
Some injuries ranged from shoulder injuries to people who had trouble breathing.
Thirty-three passengers were initially taken to a warming center at the Madison town gym, but some later went to nearby hospitals after they warmed up, the adrenaline wore off and they began to feel symptoms of injuries, according to Madison police.
Middlesex Hospital said the Shoreline Medical Center received 16 patients.
Patients were also brought to Yale-New Haven in Guilford, Middlesex Hospital and Saint Raphael's in New Haven, Madison police said.
The Red Cross was called in to help and it appears another bus has also been brought in.
All additional buses from the New York area to Mohegan Sun have been rerouted and are being turned around, according to a spokesperson for Mohegan Sun.
Connecticut State Police are investigating the circumstances of the crash.
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In a statement, VMC East Coast, which operates the bus for Dhalia, said it was saddened "that this has happened today" and thanked firefighters, paramedics and police.
"We pray that all our passengers are OK and will be safely returned to their families soon," the statement says. "We may release more information in the coming days."
