Who was Xie Hongzhuo? Columbia University mourns student's ‘heartbreaking’ death in New York bus crash
Columbia University has shared a statement after Xie Hongzhuo, a 22-year-old student from Beijing, died in a tour bus crash in western New York.
New York State Police have identified the five victims who died in a tour bus crash in western New York as Xie Hongzhuo, 22, of Beijing, China; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City; Jian Mingli, 56, also of Jersey City; Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey; and Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India.
The bus was traveling from Staten Island to Niagara Falls on Friday afternoon, August 22, with over 50 people on board when the incident took place.
Who was Xie Hongzhuo?
Not a lot of details have been revealed about the victims, but we do know that Hongzhuo was a Columbia University student from Beijing. The university has released a statement mourning the student’s death.
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"This heartbreaking loss is felt deeply across our community," a spokesperson wrote in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "We are in close contact with her family and offering them our full support. … Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with her family, friends, and all who have been touched by this tragedy."
The university added that it is helping students with counseling and other resources after the tragedy.
Erie County Medical Center said on Saturday, August 23, that 21 patients from the crash were treated at the hospital, according to the outlet. Of them, seven patients have been discharged, three were in the observation unit pending discharge, six were admitted in stable condition, and five are in the trauma intensive care unit. It remains unclear if any other victims were treated at other area hospitals.
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The National Transportation Safety Board has said that it was sending a go-team to investigate the incident. Among those who assisted in the incident were the New York State Police, Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, Office of Homeland Security, NYS Thruway Authority, Erie County Emergency Management, Genesee County Emergency Management, Newstead Emergency Management, Genesee County District Attorney’s Office, National Traffic Safety Board, and several EMS and fire companies. The bus involved in the accident has been taken to state police barracks as evidence.
