Bus filled with Chinese tourists crashes in Utah; four killed

[rooster59]

Bus filled with Chinese tourists crashes in Utah; four killed

By Steve Gorman

 

A view shows a bus carrying Chinese-speaking tourists after it crashed off a road near Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, U.S., September 20, 2019. Utah Highway Patrol/Handout via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - A bus carrying Chinese tourists careened off a road and crashed near Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah on Friday, killing four people and injuring the remaining 26 people aboard, several of them critically, authorities reported.

 

The cause of the crash, which occurred at about 11:30 a.m. on State Route 12 just west of the park, was under investigation, but weather did not appear to be a factor, state Highway Patrol and Garfield County Sheriff's Department officials said.

 

Thirty people, including the driver, were aboard the bus when it swerved across the road and back before rolling over against a guard rail and coming to rest upright, authorities said. Photos from the scene showed the vehicle's roof crushed in on top of the passenger compartment.

 

The 26 survivors were taken to various hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, according to a Utah Highway Patrol spokesman, Corporal Chris Bishop. At least five people were critically injured, Bishop said, noting that figure was a downward revision from the Highway Patrol's initial report that 12 to 15 people were critically injured.

 

Sheriff's spokeswoman Denise Dastrup said five of the injured were evacuated to hospitals by helicopter.

 

All 29 passengers on the bus were citizens of mainland China, and the driver was Chinese-American, Bishop said. Dastrup said the driver survived the crash, but his condition was not immediately known.

 

Because nearly all the victims spoke only Mandarin, communication proved a challenge to authorities, who called for volunteers to help as translators at hospitals where the injured were taken, Dastrup said.

 

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said on Twitter that it was sending diplomatic personnel to the area to further assist the victims. "We are saddened to hear about the accident in Utah involving a bus carrying Chinese tourists. We are thankful to authorities in Utah for their assistance," the embassy said.

 

A 14-mile (23 km) stretch of highway around the crash site was shut down in both directions to make way for emergency personnel and accident investigators, Bishop said.

 

Bryce Canyon National Park, best known for its spired, multi-hued rock formations called hoodoos, remained open to visitors, though traffic to the park was restricted. While all inbound routes to Bryce Canyon from the north, south and west pass were blocked by the crash site on SR-12, alternate routes from the west were open, park spokesman Peter Densmore said.

 

At the time of the crash, Dastrup said, the bus was headed toward Bryce Canyon, located about 270 miles (435 km) south of Salt Lake City, and skies were clear.

 

The national park, occupying 55 square miles (14,245 hectares) of southern Utah, attracts some 2 million visitors a year.

 

(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; editing by Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-21

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[Calach]

Such a beautiful bus... 

[keith101]

Maybe the driver swerved to miss a low flying UFO ?

 

Or all the passengers rushed to one side to take photos of something .

Edited September 21, 2019 by keith101

[Mavideol]

RIP for the ones gone

... and now the USA is copying Thailand, Chinese soon will stop traveling, no safe place for them

[zydeco]

One thing I'll say for the Chinese is that at least their embassies and government defend their citizens' interests and safety when abroad. Worthless American Embassy doesn't give a damn. 

[BTB1977]

I think the point Thaivisa is making is that thailand can take them out in much larger numbers.  And America needs to step up it's game.  R. I. P

[chilli42]

The end of Chinese tourism in the USA

[hugocnx]

Trendy Thai failing brakes now introduced to the US.

[featography]

9 minutes ago, hugocnx said:

Trendy Thai failing brakes now introduced to the US.

 

[bluesofa]

I'm just waiting for TAT to put some spin on this accident.

Perhaps along the lines of, "Why visit the USA and die in a bus accident? Come to Thailand, it's closer."

[sawadeeken]

So SAD for the Chinese tourists that their holiday was 'dampened' by this accident..... I am a retired 'Greyhound Bus Driver' and I can say with experience that American Busses are very safe..... We may not be priveliged to the reasons for the accident, but I feel sure it was a 'rare accident'... 

NOTHING LIKE Thaiands common occurances...... results of poor training/dangerous roads/ and lack of supervision/and a government that is more interested in Submarines and 'Armoured Personelle Carriers'......... is a good description of the road safety/ bus accidents concerns in Thailand........

Where this particular bus was headed (to Bryce Canyon) is equal to the 'Grand Canyon' and considered a fantastic sight..... I have driven many tourists there in past years and I have seen their appreciation of the sights....... 

RIP.... the lost souls and sorry the enjoyment was marred by this 'Rare' tragedy......

[sawadeeken]

7 hours ago, zydeco said:

One thing I'll say for the Chinese is that at least their embassies and government defend their citizens' interests and safety when abroad. Worthless American Embassy doesn't give a damn. 

Just how do you figure that??????   Are you just 'guessing' or 'making up this nonsense'??????????????

[Nyezhov]

well maintained road at 11:30 am. I predict driver error.

[Foexie]

WOW just one attempt for a lame joke about break failure inhere after this is online for 9h.

 

If this was in Thailand it would have already 8 pages full in just 9 minutes.

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I'm just waiting for TAT to put some spin on this accident.

Perhaps along the lines of, "Why visit the USA and die in a bus accident? Come to Thailand, it's closer."

Congratulations, you managed to mention TAT is a thread about a bus accident in the USA.

[tifino]

10 hours ago, zydeco said:

One thing I'll say for the Chinese is that at least their embassies and government defend their citizens' interests and safety when abroad. Worthless American Embassy doesn't give a damn. 

khun chin Embassy rushes in, to make sure nobody escapes into the wild capitalist frontier

[bluesofa]

45 minutes ago, stevenl said:

4 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I'm just waiting for TAT to put some spin on this accident.

Perhaps along the lines of, "Why visit the USA and die in a bus accident? Come to Thailand, it's closer."

Congratulations, you managed to mention TAT is a thread about a bus accident in the USA.

Thanks!  A bus accident in which Thai tourists were involved. I had no idea TAT was off limits.

The other couple of posters mentioned other Thai-related things too, don't forget to comment on that in your role defending other Thai items.

[ThaiRebound]

Note to self: If I get on a bus and notice a preponderance of Chinese tourists on the bus, then get off the bus.

[expat1010]

"Chinese-American Bus driver" makes me think that this was maybe was an all Chinese tour operation and perhaps an accident waiting to happen. Route 12 is a good, well maintained road, but the posted maximum would be too fast at times for a coach bus; a professional American coach driver would know this. Lots of twists, turns and hills once you get off of I15 or I70, should have been using an experienced local American coach driver IMHO.

[zydeco]

9 hours ago, sawadeeken said:

Just how do you figure that??????   Are you just 'guessing' or 'making up this nonsense'??????????????

Only an impotent old fool would fail to realize that the Chinese make all sorts of heck if something goes wrong with their citizens. It's in the news constantly. How do I know the US Embassy doesn't care? Easy, I was involved with the notification of death and repatriation remains of a former CIA case officer who died in Thailand. Frustration and total non help from the US Embassy. I guess they don't teach real life lessons like that in bus driving school.  

Edited September 21, 2019 by zydeco

[Cryingdick]

5 hours ago, expat1010 said:

"Chinese-American Bus driver" makes me think that this was maybe was an all Chinese tour operation and perhaps an accident waiting to happen. Route 12 is a good, well maintained road, but the posted maximum would be too fast at times for a coach bus; a professional American coach driver would know this. Lots of twists, turns and hills once you get off of I15 or I70, should have been using an experienced local American coach driver IMHO.

 

Could be. Nobody in their right mind tours America by bus. Anybody not with a tour group flies or rents a car.

[Scott]

About a year ago, I went traveling through a number of National Parks, including Yellowstone, Teton's, Bryce , Zion and Grand Canyon.   I had the opportunity to see a number of those tour buses.   They were 100% Chinese and the driver's were all ethnic Chinese. 

I met one driver -- he was from China, but was a student in LA and did tours part time.   His only complaint was that he had to drive really long hours to get from one location to another.  

[Scott]

3 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Could be. Nobody in their right mind tours America by bus. Anybody not with a tour group flies or rents a car.

Nope, lots and lots of buses with Chinese tourists.   They usually arrive in LA and tour the parks in the Western US.   You will find them in Yosemite, Sequoia, and as far North as Yellowstone and south to the Grand Canyon.  

 

There are even signs in some of the moderately priced motels where they stay that are written in Chinese.  

 

[Cryingdick]

21 minutes ago, Scott said:

Nope, lots and lots of buses with Chinese tourists.   They usually arrive in LA and tour the parks in the Western US.   You will find them in Yosemite, Sequoia, and as far North as Yellowstone and south to the Grand Canyon.  

 

There are even signs in some of the moderately priced motels where they stay that are written in Chinese.  

 

 

We actually agree. The Chinese do the tour bus thing. I was simply saying nobody in their right mind who travels independently would take something like a Greyhound for example. I was replying to another poster, so you must have missed the context.

[Mel Bourne]

The bus driver was a Thai tourist from Buri-ram, Issan.

He was visiting USA to see his loving "sister" who is married to a 65 year old yank.

He was offered some work paying 6bucks/hour and jumped at it.

Only joking.......maybe .

 

 

Edited September 22, 2019 by Mel Bourne

[Nowisee]

 

2 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Could be. Nobody in their right mind tours America by bus. Anybody not with a tour group flies or rents a car.

 

Route 12 is a fantastic road to be taken only on a motorcycle.  

[Number 6]

I'd lay odds this was some shonky, broken bus with Chinese immigrant driver. Much the same as a zero dollar tour here. You see these bus companies in all Chinatowns and in Vegas. They always have the cheapest point to point buses. City to city. The buses are in appalling condition. 

[Scott]

1 hour ago, Number 6 said:

I'd lay odds this was some shonky, broken bus with Chinese immigrant driver. Much the same as a zero dollar tour here. You see these bus companies in all Chinatowns and in Vegas. They always have the cheapest point to point buses. City to city. The buses are in appalling condition. 

All of the buses that I've seen were all top notch.   I don't think they would get licensed in CA if they weren't up to standard.  

 

[sawadeeken]

1 hour ago, Number 6 said:

I'd lay odds this was some shonky, broken bus with Chinese immigrant driver. Much the same as a zero dollar tour here. You see these bus companies in all Chinatowns and in Vegas. They always have the cheapest point to point buses. City to city. The buses are in appalling condition. 

All supposition, at best.........

The USA and especially California (where the group most likely originated on the bus) has very stringent requirements for safety of 'public transport' and all US states are covered by a federal law that commercial drivers of trucks and busses must carry an up to date (up to the hour) LOGBOOK.....

Also...No commercial driver in the US may drive more than 10 hours (behind the wheel) in any 16 hour period without getting a 8 hour undisturbed break (off duty)

Edited to add that I am a retired Greyhound Driver so I can speak with knowledge....

Edited September 22, 2019 by sawadeeken
add a line

[Number 6]

I believe the bus was out if Vegas. Many tours that run to canyons originate in Vegas.

 

I'd agree about California in general.