PHOENIX – A Las Vegas-based tour bus bound for the Grand Canyon rolled over in northwest Arizona on Friday, killing one person and seriously injuring two others, authorities said.
The cause of the wreckage around Friday afternoon was not yet known, said Anita Mortensen, a spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office. It was not clear whether another vehicle was involved. A photo from the sheriff’s office showed the bus on its side on a winding road, with no snow or rain in the remote area.
There were 48 people on the bus, including the driver, authorities said. After the crash, 44 people were sent to the Kingman Regional Medical Center, including two by medical helicopter, spokeswoman Teri Williams said. Everyone else was treated for minor injuries, she said.
Mortensen said two people had been seriously injured.
The bus was bound for Grand Canyon West, about 2 1/2 hours from Las Vegas and outside the boundaries of the national park. Located in the Hualapai Reserve, the tourist destination is best known for the Skywalk, a glass bridge that rises 21 meters above the canyon walls and gives visitors a view of the Colorado River 1219 meters below.
Before the pandemic, about 1 million people visited the Grand Canyon West each year, mostly through guided tours from Las Vegas. The Hualapai Reserve spans 108 miles (174 kilometers) of the Grand Canyon’s western rim. In addition to the Skywalk, it offers helicopter tours, horseback riding and a one-day whitewater rafting trip on the Colorado River.
The Hualapai Reserve also has a road to the Colorado River where rafters licensed by the national park can take trips and disembark.
It’s also close to where four Chinese nationals died in 2016 when their van collided with a Dallas Cowboys staff bus on its way to a promotional stop in Las Vegas.
In 2009, a tour bus carrying Chinese citizens crashed into US 93 near Hoover Dam, killing several people and injuring others. The group returned from a trip to Grand Canyon.
Federal investigators cited driver inattention as the likely cause of the crash. The bus driver tried to fix an airflow issue through his door before the crash and became distracted, then swerved off the road and corrected too much before crossing a median strip and tipping over. Most of the passengers were ejected. The guide and six Chinese tourists were killed.
John MacDonald, a spokesman for the Hualapai tribe, did not immediately have any further information about Friday’s wreckage. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said he did not immediately have more details about the crash or the involvement of the NTSB.
A Grand Canyon West spokeswoman did not immediately return messages asking for more information.