Racist Comments on Asians Erupt Following Fatal High-Speed Bus Crash in NYC

According to ABC News, the driver of the Dahlia charter bus, Raymond Mong, was barreling through the intersection at approximately 60 mph (96.5 kph) — twice the legal speed limit. His bus slammed into an MTA bus, knocking it into a nearby restaurant and causing a small fire. Firefighters arrived on the scene to put out the fire and tend to the injured.

Witnesses were stunned by the violent accident. “It was bad, it was really bad,” witness Mike Ramos told ABC. “I felt the vibrations shake my truck…I saw a guy with a cracked head, a cracked skull open. I saw guys bleeding all over the place…When I ran across the street, there was a woman pinned, screaming in the back of the city bus. I guess she was one of the pedestrians walking on the sidewalk.”

The three victims were identified as 68-year-old pedestrian Henryk Wdowiak and 55-year-old passenger Gregory Liljefors, who were rushed to the hospital but later succumbed to their injuries. Dahlia bus driver Mong died at the scene; it was later discovered that he had been previously employed with the MTA, but was fired in 2015 for drinking on the job.

Later, people gathered at the aftermath, watching as officials cleaned up the smoldering wreckage. As onlookers chatted amongst themselves, Perry Stacks, a passerby, noticed that two men were saying racist comments against Asian people — things like “Chinese people can’t drive“.

Stacks recorded the jeers as they turned into an altercation between the two men and other onlookers.

Stacks later posted the incident on his FaceBook page with the following comment:

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to investigate the cause of the crash.

Feature Image via / (Right): Lorena Mongelli via NYPost / (Left): FaceBook Perry Stacks