In the pre-dawn darkness of Jan. 28, 2023, a box truck crossed the center line and peeled off the side of a bus carrying 15 migrant workers from Mexico and Venezuela to a job site in Northern New York. The men were building a solar farm in St. Lawrence County for a company based in Cayuga County.
Every passenger in a window seat on the driver’s side of the bus died. Six bodies were returned to families in Mexico.
For this report, syracuse.com | The Post-Standard reviewed federal investigation records - victims’ statements, witness accounts, first responders’ testimony and crash reconstruction reports. Reporters interviewed survivors, family members and a witness.
The National Transportation Safety Board has laid out a set of facts that show how the solar farm exploited loopholes in laws that regulate transportation and migrant labor.
In short, the bus should not have been on the road.
Read the story on Syracuse.com in English: l.syracuse.com/yhIkou
Or read the story in Spanish: l.syracuse.com/Q9J9IQ