A charter bus carrying high school students to band camp veered off a New York highway and tumbled down an embankment Thursday afternoon. The crash killed two adults and seriously injured several others, local officials said. 

Farmingdale High School chartered six buses for the school’s marching band, color guard and dancers to travel from Long Island to northeastern Pennsylvania for band camp. The crash occurred 30 minutes from their destination and about 45 miles northwest of New York City, the Associated Press reported. 

The school’s band director, Gina Pellettiere, 43, of Massapequa, and a retired teacher Beatrice Ferrari, 77, of Farmingdale, were the two adults killed in the crash. According to state police, five of the 44 students on board were hospitalized in critical condition.

Farmingdale student Anthony Eugenio, 15, was asleep on the bus and awoke to a thud and tumbling, he told AP. 

“Then everyone was yelling,” he said. “The kid next to me was covered in blood. I saw blood everywhere.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed the public outside the state police department on Thursday, calling the crash a “day of terror.” Hochul said the bus fell 50 feet. 

“Imagine the fear, the screams, the aftermath,” Hochul said. “While it’s preliminary, it is likely that a faulty front tire contributed to the accident although, again, this is still under investigation.” 

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a federal investigation into the crash, CBS New York reported Friday morning.