STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The driver of a tour bus that overturned on the New York State Thruway last August, killing five people, was arrested in connection with the crash.
On Wednesday, New York State police arrested Bin Shao, 56, of Flushing, Queens, on charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, officials said.
While officials at a Friday press conference said Shao showed no signs of impairment while operating the vehicle, they did not discuss what caused the crash.
“The charges stem from the decisions made and actions taken by Mr. Shao as he operated the bus on the New York State Thruway in Pembroke,” said Kevin T. Finnell, district attorney for Genesee County.
Shao has entered a plea of not guilty on all five counts of manslaughter and all five counts of criminally negligent homicide, according to Finnell.
“Shao was remanded to the Genesee County Jail on $100,000 bail, $200,000 Bond, and $400,000 Partially Secured Bond,” state officials said.
When asked about the Staten Island bus company which operated the tour bus involved in the crash — M&Y Tour, Inc. — officials said that only the driver was being charged.
Rescue personnel work the scene of a tour bus that crashed and rolled over on the New York State Thruway near Pembroke, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (Libby March/The Buffalo News via AP)APAbout the crash
Around 12:20 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2025, the 61-passenger bus was traveling east near Pembroke, in Genesee County on Interstate 90 and crashed while returning from Niagara Falls to New York City.
An official report from the National Transportation Safety Board says that the bus drifted from the 12-foot-wide travel lanes onto the right shoulder. The bus then “abruptly corrected,” according to state police, and rolled off the highway.
Following the crash, the front end of the bus was on the shoulder and edge of the eastbound roadway, according to the NTSB report.
Aboard the bus were the driver and 53 passengers. Of those onboard, five suffered fatal injuries, while the driver and 48 passengers suffered injuries ranging from minor to serious, according to the report.
The five people who died in the crash were identified by state police as: Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhubani, India; Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, N.J.; Xie Hongzhuo, 22, of Beijing, China; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City, N.J.; and Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City, N.J.
At the time, a state police official said it appeared that most people on the bus were not wearing seat belts.
After the crash, the bus was identified as being registered to the Staten Island-based company, M&Y Tour, Inc.
According to U.S. Department of Transportation records, the company is registered to a residential address on Hylan Boulevard in Bay Terrace.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that the company currently has 14 drivers and seven registered vehicles.
However, a notice from the agency says that the company’s insurance has been cancelled and it is not authorized to operate as a motor passenger common carrier.
M&Y Tour, Inc., did not respond to a request for comment before publication.