One person was killed after a tour bus on its way to the Grand Canyon rolled and landed on its side on Friday afternoon, officials said.
The accident occurred around 12:21 p.m. local time near milepost 5 on Diamond Bar Rd.
Two people who were critically injured were sent to nearby hospitals, while others, seven with less severe injuries and 33 with minor injuries, were sent to Kingman Regional Medical Center, the sheriff’s office announced.
“It was a heavily damaged bus. He slid down the road quite a ways, so there was a lot of wreckage,” Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District Chief Tim Bonney said, reported The Associated Press. “Just to put it in perspective, on a scale of zero to 10, an eight.”
None of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle but they were all in shock, he said, adding, “A lot of them were saying the bus driver was driving at a high rate of speed.”
The bus was headed to Grand Canyon West, about two-and-a-half hours from Las Vegas and outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park.
The tourist destination sits on the Hualapai reservation and is best known for the Skywalk, a glass bridge that juts out 70 feet (21 meters) from the canyon walls and gives visitors a view of the Colorado River 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) below.
The Hualapai Tribe said in a statement to outlets that it and its businesses were saddened by the accident. “As a people, our hearts go out to those so deeply affected,” the statement reads. “We wish speedy recoveries to those requiring medical attention.”
The office has not released the names of the casualties. The bus is managed by a Las Vegas-based company, the name of which has not been announced.
The Red Cross’s Central and Northern Arizona Chapter said on Twitter that it is “aware of the transportation accident involving a bus near the Grand Canyon and is monitoring the situation.”
