Quwanjay Ellis was drifting off to sleep on a bus traveling from New York to Ohio about 3:30 Sunday morning when he heard a voice in his head: “Open your eyes.”

He had only moments to brace for what came next.

Sitting in the aisle seat directly behind the driver, Ellis, 17, saw his westbound bus drift from the left lane onto the median of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Mt. Pleasant Township.

Other passengers noticed, too, he said.

“They screamed, and the driver made a wide swing on the wheel,” Ellis said. The sudden jerk of the wheel caused the bus to hit the highway’s center barrier, setting in motion a violent chain reaction that would leave five people dead — including the driver — and 60 others injured.

After striking the center barrier, the bus, traveling on a downhill curve, veered to the right into travel lanes. It then drove up a steep embankment before rolling over on its passenger side, eventually sliding back onto the road and hitting the center barrier a second time, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Monday at a news briefing. At that point, the vehicle was hit by two tractor-trailers operated by FedEx and UPS, as well as a Mercedes-Benz car.

A third tractor-trailer, also from UPS, was involved in the accident.

When the tossing and turning stopped, Ellis crawled from the bus through its shattered windshield with only minor injuries to his foot, arms and hands.

The teen surveyed the dark road, the twisted wreckage and the injured all around him.

“I thought it wasn’t real,” Ellis said, recalling the moments after the crash as he waited at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville with his family Monday.

People stood on the highway in socks and bare feet.

Snow fell.

He saw the bus driver, who police said was ejected along with two other passengers, lying in the opposing lanes of the turnpike.

“Passengers were screaming,” Ellis said. “I didn’t look back. But I saw smoke. Passengers were scattered.”

Ellis called out for his 39-year-old brother, Anthony, who had been sitting across the aisle. He couldn’t find him.

He lost his phone, keys, ID and a shoe in the chaos.

Another passenger lent him a phone to call his family. Ellis couldn’t remember any phone numbers except for his mother’s, who lives in Jamaica. His mother then called other family members living in the United States.

“My mind was just clear,” Ellis said. “I was frightened.”

Sean Stipp | Tribune-Review Crews work to remove multiple tractor-trailers involved in an accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Mt. Pleasant Township on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. Five people have died and at least 55 others have been injured in the crash involving a tour bus.  

The Ellis brothers boarded the Z&D Tours bus on Canal Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown around 10 p.m. Saturday with 55 other passengers. It was a trip they had taken many times before, shuttling between New Jersey and Columbus, Ohio, for construction work and to see family.

This was their weekly routine, said Shermine Smartt, 34, of Maplewood, N.J. Smartt is Anthony Ellis’ fiancee, and frequently drives the brothers from New Jersey to the Canal Street bus stop.

“Never any issues, this is the first,” she said.

The boarding process is typically simple: Arrive early to make sure you get a seat and pay cash, she said.

But, on Saturday, they were running late. The brothers managed to snag seats by waiting on standby as other passengers shuffled luggage and changed their plans.

Hours after the brothers departed, Smartt received a call from a family member telling her that they were involved in an accident. About 20 minutes later, she dashed out the door. She met family, traveling from Irvington, N.J., along Interstate 78. They set a course for Excela Health Frick Hospital in Mt. Pleasant, where Quwanjay Ellis and about 30 others passengers were treated.

Like others traveling across Pennsylvania on Sunday, they were forced to take back roads and alternate routes as they drove west. The turnpike was closed for 85 miles in both directions from Breezewood to New Stanton for nearly 15 hours as the crash was cleared and investigated.

Anthony Ellis was treated at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, where he underwent a 12-hour surgery Sunday morning.

“They found him outside, so he was probably thrown out,” Smartt said. “He had cuts on his face.”

Quwanjay Ellis said he was not wearing a seat belt during the crash and does not remember using a seat belt during any of his bus trips.

National Transportation Safety Board officials confirmed Monday that the bus did not have seat belts and has advocated for the use of seat belts in all vehicles, including coach buses like the one involved in Sunday’s crash.

“We have issued recommendation after recommendation to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to have lap shoulder belts on motor coaches and other vehicles,” said Jennifer Homendy, a National Transportation Safety Board member. “Those haven’t been implemented, yet we continue to see accidents where passengers are ejected.”

Anthony Ellis sustained injuries to his neck, spine, collarbone and shoulder, Smartt said. He has no movement in one of his legs and was in critical but stable condition as of Monday afternoon. It was unclear if he would need additional surgeries.

“This is crazy, I literally saw him just 24 hours ago,” she said of her fiance. “I hugged him and kissed him.”

The couple plan to wed on her birthday next year, May 17, 2021.

Now that he is stable, she plans to drive family members back to New Jersey. She’ll then make the trip back to Monroeville to be with her fiance.

“I’m just grateful that he’s OK,” she said of Quwanjay, who sat beside her in the Forbes Hospital cafeteria. “That my fiance’s OK, and that most of the people are OK.”

Quwanjay Ellis walked with a limp Monday. He wore a blue “Spartans” hoodie, grey sweatpants and colorful Nike shoes that were too small. They were donated clothes — his were drenched with fuel during the crash.

A day later, the experience felt unreal, he said.

Smartt said she doesn’t know who to blame, but wants to see the bus company take some responsibility.

“It’s just bizarre,” she said. “It feels like a movie.”

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---