New York state police say tire failure is the likely cause of a Greyhound bus crash Monday night that killed three Canadians, two Americans, and injured 48 others.

Following a preliminary investigation and eyewitness interviews, Maj. Richard Smith of the New York State Police said "we are listing (steering) tire failure as a possible contributing factor to this accident."

Smith said the failure involved a front-end tire on the bus. "The tire may have been deflated in some way that it caused perhaps a potential loss of steering that may have contributed (to the accident)," he said.

"At least one of the tires was deflated at the scene (of the accident)."

Three of the five victims were from Montreal, identified as:

• Tambadou Souleymane, 16
• Hamidou Barry, 34
• Doreen George, 69
• And two men from New York state -- 52-year-old bus driver Ronald Burgess of Central Islip, and 81-year-old Antonide Dorce of Hempstead.

The victims all died at the scene.

Shattered glass and personal items littered Interstate 87 in New York state Tuesday morning after the bus traveling last night from New York City to Montreal crashed through a guard rail, rolled several times and landed upside down in a steep ditch.

"It looked like a battlefield," Ray Thatcher, director of Emergency Services for Essex County, N.Y., said after rescue workers removed the last of the bodies from the wreckage.

"Several passengers were thrown from the vehicle as it rolled. They were up to 75 feet or more from the bus. There were people everywhere."

Smith said the highway was dry at the time of the accident, and that the weather was "cloudy." He said the bus was in the passing lane when the accident occurred, although "there's no indication in the preliminary investigation that that bus was in any way exceeding the speed limit."

Smith added no contact occurred between the bus and any other vehicle on the highway.

Don Jaquish, deputy director of emergency services for Essex country, credited the bus driver for the "amazing" fact there weren't more deaths.

"I think the bus driver maintained control of the bus for some distance . . . and decreased the speed of the bus before it rolled. And that contributed," said Jaquish.

Investigators, meanwhile, are inspecting "all aspects of the equipment and safety features of that bus," said Smith.

Bus met safety standards: Greyhound

The bus, Greyhound No. 4014, departed New York at 1 p.m. on Monday. It made stops in Albany and Saratoga Springs before it overturned at about 6:45 p.m. just before exit 31 near Elizabethtown, N.Y.

The bus, a model DL-3, entered service in 1999. It had just passed its annual Federal Department of Transportation inspection last week, Greyhound lawyer David Blair told CTV Newsnet from Montreal.

"It's still much too early to put a confirmation on (tire failure) as a cause of the accident," warned Blair. "There are a huge number of elements that need to weave into the puzzle to try and figure out exactly what the cause of the accident was."

Blair said the company's buses are maintained on a regular basis and are looked over from top to bottom to ensure it meets its annual safety standard testing.

"Furthermore, prior to departure, the vehicle underwent a pre-trip inspection where all the critical safety elements -- the brakes, the tires, the wheels, the nuts, the steering, lights, and so on -- were all verified prior to departure and were found to be in perfect condition."

Greyhound has set up an information hotline for friends and families of passengers: 1-800-972-4583.

With files AP, CP and CTV's Jed Kahane in Plattsburgh, N.Y.