Queens Driver Charged In Fatal Virginia Bus Accident

NY 1

Updated 05/31/2011 11:24 PM

By: Tetiana Anderson

Authorities have filed charges against a Queens driver whose Chinatown-bound tour bus flipped over early Tuesday on Interstate 95 in Virginia, killing four women and injuring more than 50 other people.

Kin Yiu Cheung, 37, of Flushing, Queens is facing reckless driving charges and is being held in a Virginia jail on $3,000 bond.

Authorities say 58 passengers were onboard when the SkyExpress Inc-owned bus flipped onto its roof just before 5 a.m. on Interstate 95, about 30 miles north of Richmond. It had departed from Greensboro, N.C. at 10:30 p.m. Monday.

Besides the four deaths, the other 54 passengers were treated in 11 area hospitals for injuries ranging from minor to serious to life-threatening.

Cheung suffered minor injuries.

Virginia state police say driver fatigue may have contributed to the crash, and they ruled out mechanical errors or malfunctions as causes for the crash.

“The driver was apparently fatigued at the time when he ran off the right side of the road," said Virginia State Police Sergeant Thomas Molnar.

"Everybody was pretty much sleeping and then all of the sudden, you're flipping over and you're... you know, you just don't know what happened,” said passenger Makia George.

In response, federal authorities shut down SkyExpress' Chinatown office by Tuesday evening, leaving many bus ticket holders to find other ways to travel.

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