Fort Drum soldier credited with helping passengers injured in bus accident

WATERLOO — A Fort Drum soldier has been credited with helping save passengers of a bus and tractor-trailer collision early Friday that left a truck driver dead and 30 others injured.

State police have identified Sgt. Jacob Perkins as a passer-by who helped the victims, The Syracuse Post-Standard reported. The soldier was on his first day of leave.

The bus, carrying 52 passengers across Central New York early Friday, was pulling back onto a highway when it was struck in the rear by a tractor-trailer, touching off a fiery crash that demolished both vehicles, killed the truck driver and injured about 30 people, state police said.

Trooper Mark O’Donnell said many of the injuries were minor, though two people were taken to the hospital by helicopter with serious injuries. Truck driver Timothy Hume, 59, of Dryden, Mich., was killed.

“It looked like it had stopped for an unknown reason and then was re-entering the roadway,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “It probably wasn’t up to speed. That’s what we’re looking at right now. We’re not sure if the bus was totally in the right lane or in the shoulder.”

O’Donnell said passing motorists, including the Fort Drum soldier, helped some passengers off the bus.

The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90, at the northern edge of the Finger Lakes region.

Video taken after the crash shows the remains of the bus, which had been painted white with what appears to be a red horse logo. Bare wheel hubs gleam in the early light, the rubber tires burned off. The demolished truck behind the bus is barely recognizable as a vehicle.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.