Tour Bus Driver Charged After 5 Killed in Tragic Niagara Falls Return Trip Crash

A tour bus driver is now facing serious criminal charges months after a devastating crash on Interstate 90 in western New York claimed five lives.

According to the New York State Police, 56-year-old Bin Shao of Flushing, New York, has been charged with five counts of second-degree manslaughter and five counts of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the August 2025 crash near Pembroke, just outside Buffalo.

The bus had been returning from a trip to Niagara Falls when it overturned and rolled off the highway. Authorities said multiple passengers were either ejected or violently thrown inside the vehicle during the chaos.

Shao was arrested this week at a business in Putnam Valley. He was arraigned Friday in Genesee County and pleaded not guilty to all 10 charges, according to Genesee County District Attorney Kevin Finnell.

He is currently being held in the Genesee County Jail on $100,000 bond. Prosecutors have not yet detailed the specific actions they believe led to the crash.

“The charges stem from the decisions made and the actions taken by Mr. Shao as he operated the bus on the New York State Thruway in Pembroke,” Finnell said at a press briefing.

Authorities emphasized there was no evidence of impairment from drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

The crash happened in August 2025 along I-90 in Pembroke. Officials described it as a “large-scale and complex incident” that required hundreds of first responders.

There were 54 people on board the bus, ranging in age from just 1 year old to 74. All surviving passengers were transported to nearby hospitals.

Five adults were pronounced dead at the scene:

• Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India
• Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey
• Xie Hongzhuo, 22, of Beijing, China, a student at Columbia University
• Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City, New Jersey
• Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City, New Jersey

Officials noted the passengers came from seven different countries, underscoring the global impact of the tragedy.

The indictment was returned at the end of January, following what authorities described as a months-long investigation into the crash.

Capt. Dan Howard of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation called the case extensive and complex, given the number of victims, witnesses, and international families affected.

As the legal case moves forward, families of the victims are still grappling with the sudden loss of loved ones who were simply returning home from a popular tourist destination.

The question now shifts to the courtroom: what decisions behind the wheel led to one of the deadliest highway crashes in the region last year — and will prosecutors be able to prove criminal responsibility?