GARFIELD COUNTY, Utah – At least four people were killed and up to 15 others were critically injured Friday after a tour bus crashed near Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, authorities said.
The bus slammed into a guardrail and rolled onto its side, KUTV reported. The crash happened near a highway rest stop about 7 miles from the park entrance. Photos from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office show the top of a white bus smashed in and one side peeling away as it rests mostly off the side of a road near a sign for restrooms.
There were 30 people aboard the bus, including the driver. Every person sustained injuries and at least seven are considered in critical condition, Garfield County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Denise Dastrup told Fox News. The Utah Highway Patrol tweeted that between 12 and 15 people had suffered “very critical injuries” and that the tourists on the bus were “Chinese-speaking.” Authorities did not immediately elaborate.
Two life flights were dispatched to the scene and victims were being transported to Garfield Memorial Hospital and Kings County Hospital in Utah, Dastrup said.
Police urged civilians to steer clear of the area near Utah State Route 12 (SR-12) as multiple air ambulances and rescue teams arrived, the Utah Highway Patrol said on Twitter. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear but the bus was “severely damaged,” Dastrup said.
Bryce Canyon is known for its distinctive landscape of narrow red-rock spires and is located about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City.
