[artist id="440"]Weezer[/artist] canceled the rest of their 2009 tour dates on Sunday, following a tour bus crash in upstate New York that resulted in serious injuries to singer Rivers Cuomo. According to an account of the crash on the band's Web site, the bus carrying Cuomo, his family and assistants hit a patch of black ice on a highway near Albany, New York, early Sunday morning, sending the vehicle skidding into a muddy ravine on the side of the road. Though the bus ran over a guardrail and flattened it, it did not roll or turn over when it came to a stop.

Cuomo's wife and 2-year-old daughter were not injured in the accident, but his assistant, Sarah Kim, was thrown from her bunk and suffered two fractured ribs and a fractured lower vertebra. Cuomo, 40, was tossed violently around in his bunk and was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, New York, after complaining of rib pain. Doctors found that he had cracked three ribs and sustained "mostly minor but very painful internal damage" as well as a lower 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, [article id="1619822"]Raditude.[/article]

Longtime band friend Karl Koch provided the detailed description of the crash and its aftermath for the band's site. "The interior of the bus was 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," he wrote. "On top of it the sliding interior doors were fused shut and the bus's 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 said that police and emergency personnel used the Jaws of Life to remove the rear window bar so that responders could climb across a ladder laid over the ravine to reach Cuomo and remove him and Kim on stretchers. At the other end, officers dug out the front of the bus so the other passengers could escape. The rest of the buses in the band's entourage pulled up within 20 minutes of the accident to find a long line of fire trucks and EMT vehicles.

"I threw on my shoes and walked up just as the Jaws of Life were being turned on, catching a glimpse of Rivers lying inside on his back surrounded by EMTs," Koch wrote. "I couldn't believe what was happening in front of me, as Rivers lay so helpless, shivering in the center of the chaos, and meanwhile the sun was coming up and revealing an utterly beautiful light covering of snow on the surrounding trees."

While a spokesperson for the band's label had no update on Cuomo's condition on Monday morning, Koch reported that the singer had been transported to a larger area hospital where he remains under observation and is resting comfortably. As a result of the crash, the rest of the band's December dates have been canceled, but Koch said the group will try to reschedule them if they can.