State police said several passengers were killed and numerous others were injured when a Greyhound bus heading from New York City to Montreal on the Northway crashed through a guard rail and landed upside down in an embankment Monday. State police believe up to five people are dead. At least 20 passengers were lying on blankets and stretchers while receiving care from medical personnel. The back and top of the bus was crushed and one of its back wheels was turned inward. All five Jews on the bus survived with minor injuries.

The bus, No. 4014, departed New York at 1 p.m. and made stops in Albany and Saratoga Springs before the crash, said Greyhound spokeswoman Anna Folmnsbee. There were 52 passengers and one driver onboard, she said. It was traveling northbound on Interstate 87 at about 6:45 p.m. when it overturned just before exit 31 near Elizabethtown.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Elizabethtown, Plattsburgh and Glens Falls. CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh was in disaster mode and called City Police Department for help with crowd control.

Mike Hildebran, a spokesman for Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Medical Center in Plattsburgh, said 25 people had been treated there as of 10:30 p.m. and several more were en route. The patients were of all ages, including a few children, and had injuries including cuts, bruises and broken bones.

The highway remained closed late Monday between Exits 30 and 31 in both directions.

Greyhound has set up an information hotline for friends and families of passengers at 800-972-4583.

Westport is 110 miles north of Albany.

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