An Arizona sheriff’s office is investigating a bus accident that authorities say killed one person and injured dozens of others, including five seriously.
KINGMAN, Arizona – An Arizona sheriff’s office was investigating a bus accident that killed one person and injured dozens of others, including five seriously, officials said on Saturday.
The Las Vegas-based bus crashed on Friday and overturned in northwest Arizona as it headed for a Grand Canyon lookout in the Hualapai reservation.
The wrecked bus was towed from the scene and examining it in a trailer would be part of the investigation conducted by the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said.
The cause of the accident was not immediately determined and no information was available on the vehicle’s speed before the accident and other circumstances that may be related, said Mortensen.
A fireman who responded to the scene said Friday that speed appeared to be a factor.
A photo provided by the sheriff’s office showed the bus overturned on a road that curves through Joshua trees with no snow or rain in the remote area.
Kingman Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Teri Williams said 40 people were released after treatment on Friday for minor injuries, while three others seriously injured remained hospitalized on Saturday and two other seriously injured patients were transferred on Friday. fair to an unspecified hospital in Las Vegas. The conditions of the two transferred patients were not known.
No identity was released and it was not immediately known whether the passengers were in a group or where they were from.
The bus was going to the Grand Canyon West, about 2.5 hours from Las Vegas and outside the boundaries of the Grand Canyon National Park. The tourist destination is in the Hualapai reserve and is best known for the Skywalk, a glass bridge that projects 70 feet (21 meters) from the canyon walls and offers visitors a view of the Colorado River 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) below.
In a statement released on Friday, the Hualapai Tribe and its businesses said they were saddened by the rollover and that safety is the top priority for guests, employees and vendors.