Tour bus kills New York pedestrian, driver charged

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tour bus driver who struck a pedestrian on a midtown Manhattan street was charged on Sunday with drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, police said.

Steve Drappel, 57, of West Palm Beach, Florida, hit the pedestrian as he turned a corner near Times Square shortly before 10 p.m. on Saturday, police said. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, police said.

The luxury tour bus was operated by Travelynx, a Florida-based charter service. A Travelynx representative could not be reached immediately for comment.

A bus carrying passengers home to New York City from a Connecticut casino crashed in mid-March on a local highway, killing 15 people and injuring the rest of the 32 passengers on board. The cause of that crash remains under investigation.

(Reporting by Aman Ali, editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and David Bailey)