Tour Bus Operator From Queens Charged In Deadly Delaware Crash

NEWARK, Del. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A tour bus operator was charged Monday, after a bus bound for New York City crashed in Delaware this past weekend and left two people dead.

Jinli Zhao, 56, of Flushing, Queens, was charged with two counts of operating a vehicle causing the death of another person in the Sunday bus crash, Delaware State Police said in a news release Tuesday.

The accident happened around 4:20 p.m. Sunday in New Castle in the northern part of Delaware, south of Wilmington. Forty-nine passengers were onboard at the time, Delaware State Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Shavack said this past weekend.

The 1996 Setra Touring Coach bus was going through a curve when it left the road and overturned. The bus slid on its roof down a grass embankment and came to rest on its left side, Shavack said.

Hua'y Chen, a 54-year-old woman from New York City, was found under the bus and was pronounced dead at the scene, Shavack said. Idil Bahsi, a 30-year-old woman from Istanbul, Turkey, was taken to a hospital and died Sunday night.

The other passengers were taken to area hospitals for injuries varying in severity.

Police on Tuesday said Zhao lost control of the bus as he tried to negotiate a moderate curve at too fast of a speed. The speed was determined to be a contributing factor in the cause of the two deaths, police said.

Zhao was treated at from St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware, and was released into state police custody around 4 p.m. Tuesday. He was arraigned and sent to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington on $5,000 bond, police said.

Drugs and alcohol were not considered a factor in the crash, police said.

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