TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Bus Crash Probe May Take Month

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: February 1, 2009

DOLAN SPRINGS, Ariz. - Investigators looking into a deadly tour bus crash on a highway near the Hoover Dam said Saturday that it may take up to a month to figure out why the vehicle overturned, killing seven passengers and injuring 10 others.
Arizona Department of Public Safety Sgt. Danny Hannigan said the National Transportation Safety Board was helping to investigate the cause of Friday's crash. The bus had been taken to Kingman, where investigators will scour it during the next week, department spokesman Lt. James Warriner said.

Six people were pronounced dead at the scene and a seventh died at a hospital, said Cmdr. Dean Nyhart of the public safety department. The driver was among those in serious condition, he said.

The passengers were Chinese nationals who had flown from Shanghai to San Francisco, and had most recently been in Las Vegas, according to the Department of Public Safety. They left Las Vegas early Friday for a trip to the Grand Canyon and were returning when the accident occurred on U.S. 93 on Friday.

Shanghai's municipal government contacted a U.S. travel agency for help in identifying the victims, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday. It said the bus was carrying 15 people from a 20-member group.

There was no immediately word on the identity of the 17th person on the bus.

The bus was traveling north on the two-lane highway - the main route between Phoenix and Las Vegas - when it veered right, overcorrected, crossed the median and rolled at least once before stopping, Nyhart said.

Sheila Larsen, who works at Rosie's Den, said she went outside after hearing a loud crash and screams and found people lying on the roadway, with paper and money strewn across the area.

"The woman I was trying to comfort didn't speak English. I was trying to comfort her and she died," Larsen said.

According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the bus belonged to D.W. Tours of San Gabriel, Calif. A recording on the company's phone line said the mailbox was full and that no messages could be left. The company didn't respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press.

Six people were taken to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where one died. Spokesman Rick Plummer said two remained hospitalized in critical condition: a 35-year-old woman and a woman whose age was unknown but was believed to be in her 40s. The 48-year-old driver was in serious condition, and an 8-year-old boy and a 61-year-old man were in fair condition.

Plummer said injuries ranged from spinal and head injuries to bone fractures.

John Fildes, director of UMC's trauma center, said some of the patients have been able to speak.

The boy's parents joined him after being released from Arizona's Kingman Regional Medical Center, spokesman Ryan Kennedy said. A 41-year-old woman was in fair condition at Kingman on Saturday, and two other patients in serious condition - a 57-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman - were taken to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT