US authorities identify Chinese tourists killed in Utah bus crash
- Three women and one man dead, and three others in critical condition after vehicle rolls over on way to national park
Four Chinese tourists killed in a bus crash in the western United States on Friday were all their sixties, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
The three women and one man were identified as Ling Geng, 68, Xiuyun Chen, 67, Zhang Caiyu, 62, and Zhongliang Caiyu, 65.
One of the women was confirmed to be a resident of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, mainland news site 66wz.com reported on Sunday.
They were among 30 people on a tour from Shanghai when their bus overturned on the way to Bryce Canyon National Park on Friday morning in one of the deadliest traffic accidents in the US involving Chinese tourists.
All 31 people on board, including an American driver, were hurt when the bus drifted to the right side of the road near a highway rest stop a few miles from the park.
The trip’s organiser, Shanghai Zhuyuan International Travel Agency, said that as of Saturday afternoon, 18 people on the bus remained in hospital, including three in critical condition.
As more Chinese travel overseas, more Chinese tourists are dying abroad.
State broadcaster China Central Television quoted a foreign ministry official as saying that 759 Chinese died overseas last year, up from 695 in 2017. In all, 165 of the 2017 figure died in traffic accidents.
Shanghai Zhuyuan said it had sent 10 people to deal with the aftermath of the Utah crash.
An initial investigation suggested the bus driver swerved on the way to the park and the bus rolled over when the driver tried to correct the vehicle’s course.
The bus smashed into a highway sign, caving in its roof and exposing one side.
Authorities are still investigating the driver’s condition as well as any possible mechanical problems.
Calls to Shanghai Zhuyuan went unanswered on Sunday.
The firm is a branch of Zhuyuan International Travel Agency, a company established in 1996 and specialising in overseas trips. Headquartered in Beijing, Zhuyuan also has branches in Chengdu, Wuhan and Shenyang.
After the crash, the Shanghai Culture and Tourism Bureau sent an alert to all tour agencies in the municipality, ordering safety checks of all their tours, according to a statement it posted on the bureau’s website on Saturday.
Additional reporting by Associated Press