2 killed and 17 injured after Megabus overturns on New Jersey Turnpike

Two people were killed and 17 others were injured after a double-decker Megabus overturned on the New Jersey Turnpike on Tuesday evening. 

New Jersey State Police responded to a report about a bus crash at the Thomas Edison Service Area entrance ramp in Woodbridge a little before 7 p.m., authorities said. 

The double-decker bus was driving south from New York City towards Philadelphia in the left lane when it lost control and crashed into a Ford F-150 pickup truck in the left-center lane. The crash caused the bus to go off the road, hitting a guard rail and overturning. 

Twenty-two passengers were riding inside of the bus at the time of the crash, as well as the driver, state police said. 

Police confirmed on Wednesday that two people were killed and 17 others were injured, with three in critical condition. 

The casualties were identified as Cheryl Johnson, 59, from the Bronx, and Cecilia Kiyanitza, 66, from Woodbury, N.Y., Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene. Kiyanitza was airlifted from the crash site to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. 

The 56-year-old bus driver from Westville, N.J., is one of the victims in critical condition. 

"There was enough time to register what was about to happen, which was terrifying," passenger Reid Kleinman told Eyewitness News. 

"We heard kind of a pop explosion type thing like a small one and the bus started rattling and shaking and it started to veer to the right and across a couple lanes of traffic, hit a barricade, crashed and flipped over," Kleinman said.

Police are still investigating the incident.