Boy on bus dies after hitting head

on 01/09/2012 17:14:11

A US teenager heading to a Sweet 16 party was killed after he stuck his head out of the emergency hatch of a double-decker bus and hit the underside of a highway overpass in New Jersey, police said.

Daniel Fernandez, of Sayreville, New Jersey, was among 65 teenagers aboard the bus on Friday night as it crossed the George Washington Bridge from New York City, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The 16-year-old was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The accident occurred at an overpass on Interstate 95 at about 6.30pm.

Alex Franco, a security guard on the bus, told the Daily News that he had warned the teenagers to leave the hatch alone.

"I told them not to open the hatch, like three or four times, but kids, they don't understand," he said.

Mr Franco said he went downstairs to tell the driver that it was getting too hot.

"It was very hot. Everybody was dancing. Two, five minutes I was downstairs," he said. "Then I heard two guys screaming, 'Oh my God, oh my God."'

Designer Transportation, which operates the bus, expressed its "deepest heartfelt sympathy" for the boy's family. It said it plans to conduct an internal investigation.