Officials reveal new information about Waltham bus crash that killed Brandeis student

Authorities released additional information on Monday about the fatal bus crash that occurred Saturday evening in Waltham. An investigation into the incident is still ongoing. Vanessa Mark, a 25-year-old student at Brandeis University, was killed in the accident.

A shuttle operated by Joseph’s Transportation hit a tree around 10:32 p.m. Saturday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office said. The bus was going down South Street in Waltham.

First responders found 30 passengers and the bus driver at the scene. Mark, who was one of the passengers, was pronounced dead at the scene. All remaining passengers were taken to area hospital with varying degrees of injuries. The driver, a 57-year-old man, was also taken to hospital. At least one surviving passenger suffered life-threatening injuries.

The passengers on the bus were mostly from Brandeis, but students from other schools were also on board. The shuttle was operating on a routine route from Boston and Cambridge to Brandeis at the time of the crash.

Reports on Sunday said the shuttle was transporting students after they attended a hockey game at Northeastern University. Some students reported going to the game earlier that night, but not all students were on the shuttle for that purpose, Ryan’s office said. The bus was not chartered for a specific event.

Law enforcement officials from Ryan’s office, the Waltham Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police continue to investigate the crash. Their work includes working with the State Police’s Accident Reconstruction Section, interviewing witnesses and collecting additional evidence from the scene.

There is no evidence the bus overturned in the crash, Ryan’s office said.

Investigators are still hoping to speak to anyone who witnessed the crash or has information or video of the crash. Members of the public with relevant information are asked to contact the Waltham Police Department at (781) 314-3600.

A vigil in honor of the victims was planned for Monday evening in Brandeis.

One of the passengers, Cassidy Hanck, told CBS that the motion of the bus was strange before the accident and that the throttle and brakes were “sensitive”.

She told the station that, from her perspective, it looked like the driver had left the road to avoid another disaster.

“There’s a train track out front and like shops and other students and all that… he could have continued in that direction, or he could have swerved to try and stop the bus,” she said. told CBS. “We felt like we were going fast, then we got onto the pavement, then into some bushes, then into a tree at full power…lots, lots of blood, lots of mayhem.”

Those who knew Mark found themselves grappling with their grief on Monday.

“You couldn’t really spend a lot of time with her without smiling and laughing,” said Sam Forman, 23, of Allston. The Boston Globe. “Just such a bright and cheerful kind of personality in every sense of the word.”

Forman described meeting Mark in freshman year when they were auditioning for an improv band on campus. Mark would later make the cut and join False Advertising, Brandeis’ oldest improv troupe, the World reported.

“She’s one of the few people I think is really good,” Forman told the newspaper.

Fellow friend and roommate of Mark’s from Brandeis, Adam Fleishaker, shared his memories of her in a Facebook post on Monday. Fleishaker recalled Mark’s habit of “singing” the names of people she was close to, as well as her “bright smile and captivating energy”. Mark always brightened the days of those around him, he added. She infused this energy into her works and her false advertising.

“She had a love for people, laughter and all the simple joys in life. I’ve been blessed to be her roommate and share moments laughing at memes and puns, video games or TV shows with humor, and expressing our affection for our other roommates,” wrote Fleishaker.

In an interview with the WorldFleishaker said he hopes the tragic circumstances of Mark’s death won’t overshadow the goodness she brought to the world.

“What [people] should see was the art and the life that flowed from her, and the joy she brought to everyone,” he told the World. “That’s what I mean when you google ‘Vanessa Mark’.”