Home POLITICS At least 4 Chinese-speaking tourists dead in tour bus crash near Bryce Canyon National Park

At least 4 Chinese-speaking tourists dead in tour bus crash near Bryce Canyon National Park

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At least 4 Chinese-speaking tourists dead in tour bus crash near Bryce Canyon National Park

A tour bus carrying Chinese-speaking tourists crashed Friday morning near Bryce Canyon National Park, killing at least four people and critically injuring at least a dozen others.

According to a spokesman for Intermountain Healthcare, as of 1:45 p.m. Garfield Memorial Hospital and Intermountain Hospital in Murray had received 12 victims of this accident — “three in critical condition, six in serious condition and three in fair condition.”

Bryce Canyon National Park tweeted that the crash happened about 3 1/2 miles west of the park on State Road 12. It is a mountain road stretching from Torrey to the edge of the park.

The highway is closed for 14 miles beginning at U.S. Highway 89 and stretching east to State Road 63.

#SR12BusCrash Update. We are still confirming four fatalities and 12-15 others with very critical injuries. We are confirming the tourists are Chinese speaking tourists. I am working on getting photos posted.

— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) September 20, 2019

FOX 13 cited Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins as saying the bus, which had about 30 people aboard, went off the road.

Robert Driedocks, who owns the nearby Bryce Wildlife Adventure Museum, heard the accident.

“I was outside watering my deer. It’s only, like, a quarter of a mile away, and I thought a bomb went off,” he said. “When I got there … it was a mess.”

He estimated there were 35 people on the bus, which he said was carrying Asian tourists.

“We just tried to help,” Driedocks said, his voice breaking. “Put blankets on. Taped them up. I tried to comfort a guy who was sitting next to his dead wife. It’s pretty tough to [check] people’s wrists and necks and they’re not breathing. And guys grieving over their wives.”

Driedocks said he spoke with a man who was also driving on SR-12 and witnessed the accident.

“He said there was no other car involved,” Driedocks said. “The bus started drifting off and they over-corrected and went off the road.”

The bus ended up on top of a guardrail, flipped on its side.

“Everybody’s out there. Helicopters. Ambulances. There were lots of paramedics. Lots of volunteers and sheriffs,” he said. “It was a mess.”

Troopers are en route to a tour bus crash near Bryce Canyon on SR-12. Multiple Air ambulances and rescue crews have been dispatched. We will update as more information comes in. Please avoid the area and let first responders work.

— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) September 20, 2019

This story will be updated.

Editor’s note: FOX 13 and The Salt Lake Tribune are news-gathering partners.

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