ID :
137047
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 10:37
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/137047
The shortlink copeid
LEAD: 3 Japanese killed as tour bus crashes in Utah+
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Aug. 10 Kyodo - A bus carrying 14 Japanese tourists rolled off a highway in Utah on Monday evening, killing three of them and causing six others serious injuries, local
police said Tuesday.
The remaining five passengers and the driver, also believed to be Japanese,
suffered minor injuries.
Seven were taken to three different hospitals in Salt Lake City and four of
them -- two men and two women -- are in intensive-care unit facilities,
according to local sources.
Other slightly injured passengers were also sent to hospitals in Cedar City.
The local police and Nippon Travel Agency Co. said Tuesday one of the three
fatalities was a man in his 20s from Osaka who was traveling as a member of the
travel agency's group tour.
The police and the Japanese Foreign Ministry are trying to identify all the
passengers on the bus, which crashed into the central divider of the highway
around 6:40 p.m. Monday before rolling off the road
The small bus was en route to Bryce Canyon National Park, a popular tourist
destination, from Las Vegas. Pictures from local media show the bus was
completely turned over and destroyed.
''This is truly heartbreaking,'' Nippon Travel Agency President Kazuaki Maruo
said at a press conference in Tokyo. ''We feel very sorry'' for what happened
in Utah, he said.
Some of the passengers appear to have been tossed from the bus due to the
impact of the crash.
It was a single vehicle crash on a straight road with a good view, and the
local police are now questioning the driver to discover how the accident
occurred, including whether the bus had been speeding.
Among the 14 Japanese tourists, four were clients of major travel agency H.I.S.
Co., while eight were traveling in the group from Nippon Travel Agency, and the
remaining two were KNT Co. clients, according to the agencies.
The tourists were to return to Japan on Sunday. The travel agencies consigned
the round-trip tour from Las Vegas to other sightseeing spots around there to a
tour company in Utah.
H.I.S. said its four clients -- one man and three women all in their 20s --
were injured but none critically. KNT said one of its clients, a 60-year-old
man from Kanagawa Prefecture, was severely injured and the other, a 53-year-old
woman also from Kanagawa believed to be a member of his family, only slightly.
Nippon Travel Agency said it has confirmed that the Osaka man had died and five
had been hospitalized, and is trying to gather information about the other two
-- a 38-year-old man and 40-year-old woman, both from Tokyo. The travel agency
said it set up a unit to deal with the accident and will send an executive
officer to the accident site.
The eight Nippon Travel Agency clients were aged between 14 and 52. Excluding
the two Tokyoites, four are from Osaka, including the known fatality, and the
two others from Aichi Prefecture, according to the agency.
==Kyodo
police said Tuesday.
The remaining five passengers and the driver, also believed to be Japanese,
suffered minor injuries.
Seven were taken to three different hospitals in Salt Lake City and four of
them -- two men and two women -- are in intensive-care unit facilities,
according to local sources.
Other slightly injured passengers were also sent to hospitals in Cedar City.
The local police and Nippon Travel Agency Co. said Tuesday one of the three
fatalities was a man in his 20s from Osaka who was traveling as a member of the
travel agency's group tour.
The police and the Japanese Foreign Ministry are trying to identify all the
passengers on the bus, which crashed into the central divider of the highway
around 6:40 p.m. Monday before rolling off the road
The small bus was en route to Bryce Canyon National Park, a popular tourist
destination, from Las Vegas. Pictures from local media show the bus was
completely turned over and destroyed.
''This is truly heartbreaking,'' Nippon Travel Agency President Kazuaki Maruo
said at a press conference in Tokyo. ''We feel very sorry'' for what happened
in Utah, he said.
Some of the passengers appear to have been tossed from the bus due to the
impact of the crash.
It was a single vehicle crash on a straight road with a good view, and the
local police are now questioning the driver to discover how the accident
occurred, including whether the bus had been speeding.
Among the 14 Japanese tourists, four were clients of major travel agency H.I.S.
Co., while eight were traveling in the group from Nippon Travel Agency, and the
remaining two were KNT Co. clients, according to the agencies.
The tourists were to return to Japan on Sunday. The travel agencies consigned
the round-trip tour from Las Vegas to other sightseeing spots around there to a
tour company in Utah.
H.I.S. said its four clients -- one man and three women all in their 20s --
were injured but none critically. KNT said one of its clients, a 60-year-old
man from Kanagawa Prefecture, was severely injured and the other, a 53-year-old
woman also from Kanagawa believed to be a member of his family, only slightly.
Nippon Travel Agency said it has confirmed that the Osaka man had died and five
had been hospitalized, and is trying to gather information about the other two
-- a 38-year-old man and 40-year-old woman, both from Tokyo. The travel agency
said it set up a unit to deal with the accident and will send an executive
officer to the accident site.
The eight Nippon Travel Agency clients were aged between 14 and 52. Excluding
the two Tokyoites, four are from Osaka, including the known fatality, and the
two others from Aichi Prefecture, according to the agency.
==Kyodo
