12/7/2009

in

Bus crash ends Weezer's Raditude Tour seriously injuring singer and assistant.

Robyn Chelsea-Seifert

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Weezer have canceled their 2009 tour dates following a bus crash early Sunday morning. The tour bus, carrying singer Rivers Cuomo, his family, nanny and personal assistant, was traveling along I-90, near Albany, N.Y., when it hit a patch of black ice, lost control and plunged into a muddy ravine.  
  
According to the band's [website](http://www.weezer.com/blog/default.aspx?nid=23946), which gives a detailed account of the accident by band friend Karl Koch, Cuomos's wife, two-year-old daughter and nanny were uninjured. Both Rivers and his assistant Sarah Kim were thrown five feet from their upper level bunks. Rivers sustained three cracked ribs while Sarah suffered two fractured ribs and fractured lower vertebrae from the crash.  
  
Cuomo, 40, was violently tossed around in his bunk and complained of rib pain following the accident. He was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, N.Y., where doctors found that he had cracked three ribs and sustained a minor leg injury. The band was traveling from Toronto to Boston for a Monday night (December 7) show at the Agganis Arena, on the tour to promote their latest album, "Raditude."  
  
Koch describes the scene as a "chaotic mess with broken glass, smashed glasses and plates, food and clothing items strewn everywhere, as well as the refrigerator flying off the wall and many drawers coming right out of their slots, spewing their contents everywhere. On top of it the sliding interior doors were fused shut and the bus' electronics were ruined, so no one could get into the back lounge where Rivers lay immobile and unable to speak due to the pain in his ribcage. To top it off, the front door was jammed shut with 5 feet of heavy wet mud up pressed against it so there was no way to leave the bus."  
  
Koch goes on to recall the Jaws of Life removing the rear window bar allowing EMT and fire rescue to hoist a ladder across the ravine to the rear bus window where they could reach Rivers and Sarah. At the front of the bus the mud was cleared allowing the passengers a safe escape. Within 20 minutes the other tour buses started to roll in followed by more fire trucks and emergency vehicles.  
  
Sarah was discharged from the hospital while Rivers was transported to a larger area hospital and remains under observation, but is resting comfortably. The rest of the December Raditude Tour has been canceled. No further information has been released on rescheduling the dates or ticket refunds, but will be at a later date on their [website](http://www.weezer.com/blog/default.aspx?nid=23946).