Authorities identify four Chinese tourists killed in bus crash in southern Utah

PANGUITCH, UTAH (AP) - Authorities on Saturday (Sept 21) identified the four Chinese tourists killed in a bus crash in southern Utah.

Three women and one man died in the crash on a highway running through the red-rock landscape of southern Utah last Friday. The victims have been identified as Ling Geng, 68, Xiuyun Chen, 67, Zhang Caiyu, 62, and Zhongliang Caiyu, 65. They were all from Shanghai, China.

They were part of a tour group, organised by Shanghai Zhuyuan International Travel Agency, that was made up of 29 tourists and one person leading the group. They come from Shanghai and the nearby provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Heilongjiang, according to a news report on the media website huanqiu.com

The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism urged the travel agency to spare no effort in rescuing the injured and properly handle the follow-up matters.

The Zhuyuan Travel Agency has organised a working group to rush to the scene as soon as possible and try to help the injured tourists. Phone calls to the travel agency rang unanswered on Sunday morning.

Five passengers remained in critical condition last Friday night, and the death toll could rise, Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant Nick Street said.

All 31 people on board were hurt. Twelve to 15 on board were considered to be in critical condition shortly after the crash, but several of them have since improved, Sergeant Street said. Not everyone was wearing a seatbelt, as is common in tour buses, he said.

The crash happened near a highway rest stop a few miles from southern Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park, an other-worldly landscape of narrow red-rock spires.

Authorities believe the driver swerved on the way to the park last Friday morning. But when he yanked the steering wheel to put the bus back onto the road, the momentum sent the bus into a rollover crash, authorities said.

The driver, an American citizen, survived and was talking with investigators, Sergeant Street said. He did not appear to be intoxicated, but authorities were still investigating his condition as well as any possible mechanical problems, he said.

There was some wind, but it was not strong enough to cause problems, Sergeant Street said.

The crash left the top of a white bus smashed in and one side peeling away as the vehicle came to rest mostly off the side of the road against a sign for restrooms.

The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate.

The company listed on the bus was America Shengjia. Utah business records indicate that it is based in Monterey Park, California. A woman answering the phone there did not have immediate comment.

Injured victims were taken to three hospitals. Intermountain Garfield Memorial Hospital said it received 17 patients, including three in critical condition and 11 in serious condition.

Patients also were taken to Cedar City and St George hospitals.

Millions of people visit Utah's five national parks every year. Last year, about 87,000 people from China visited the state, making them the fastest-growing group of Utah tourists, according to state data.

More than half of visitors from China travel on tour buses, said Ms Vicki Varela, managing director of Utah Office of Tourism.

The Chinese Embassy tweeted that it was saddened to hear about the crash and that it was sending staff to help the victims.

Bryce Canyon, about 300 miles (480km) south of Salt Lake City, draws more than two million visitors a year.

"You have a group from China who have worked hard to come to the states, got the visa and everything they needed, excited about it, and for a tragedy like this to happen it just makes it all the more tragic," Sergeant Street said.