East Hampton Man Killed by Head-On Bus Crash, Friends Rally to Send his Body Home for Burial

When East Hampton’s Cesar Marin, 27, died after a bus accident in Water Mill on Friday, he left behind a wife and two young children.

And now, his family and friends have rallied to help raise funds so that his body might be sent home to Ecuador for burial. A Go Fund Me page has been created; so far, the page has raised $3,000 of a $4,000 goal in three days.

According to Southampton Town Police, the crash took place at 6:50 a.m. at the intersection of Montauk Highway and Windmill Lane in Water Mill. Southampton Town Police officers, detectives, the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, and Bridgehampton Fire Department and Ambulance responded to the scene, which involved a Suffolk County transit bus.

Marin, police said, was driving a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer SUV when he lost control of his car due to icy roadway and veered into the eastbound lane, striking the bus head-on.

Marin was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The bus driver, Andrej Jaglowski, 50, of Riverhead, was transported to Southampton Hospital by Bridgehampton Ambulance. He was treated and released for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Priscila Ortega, who organized the Go Fund Me effort, is a family member trying to help during a painful time. “His body will be sent to family members in his home country of Ecuador,” she wrote. “Funeral services are very costly and due to financial circumstances, we need your help to aid the Marin/Otavalo family in their time of need. All donations will help fund Marin’s funeral and his family that he leaves behind, which includes his wife, an East Hampton resident, and two young children that reside in Ecuador.”

She added, “Thank you so much for your generosity.”

The New York State Department of Transportation Motor Safety Unit responded for a safety check of the bus, police said. The Chevy Trailblazer was impounded to police headquarters for a safety check and further investigation.

No criminal charges are expected to be filed, police said.

Ten minutes before the fatal accident, another crash occurred at the same location, where a driver lost control of his vehicle on the roadway, slick with black ice, police said; no injuries were reported.