Fourteen Dead in Tour Bus Crash on I-95

Fourteen people are dead and 19 others injured after a devastating tour bus crash on I-95 on the Bronx-Westchester border early Saturday morning.

The bus scraped against a guard rail, flipped onto its side and was sliced in half from end to end by the support pole for a large sign, reported the Associated Press.

The World Wide Tours bus was headed back to New York's Chinatown after a trip to the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut.

New York State Police Major Mike Koby said police are in the early stages of a criminal investigation into the accident.  Police have interviewed the driver of a tractor trailer traveling through the area at the time of the accident. Koby also said that the tour bus driver may have been speeding.

Many of the passengers on the bus lived in Chinatown, according to reports. An assistance center has been set up at the New York City Police Department's Fifth Precinct on Elizabeth Street in Chinatown, where victims' families can receive information and counseling.  Mental health workers from the Westchester Red Cross are among those assisting victims' families.

All southbound lanes of I-95 have been reopened, according to the New York State Thruway Authority.

Fairfield Patch contributed to this report.