Salt Lake City, UTThree Japanese tourists are dead after the driver of the tour bus they were riding in lost control of the vehicle. A further 11 others were injured. The bus accident happened on Monday evening just outside Cedar City, the Utah Highway Patrol report.
There were 14 passengers in the tour group, half of which had to be flown to hospitals in Salt Lake City, about 250 miles from the scene of the accident. They were listed in critical condition. A 14-year old girl from Osaka, Japan, is among the injured.
According to reports by AP, the 26-year old Japanese bus driver drove into the median and tried to compensate by steering back onto the highway. Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Ted Tingey told AP "From all indications, the driver was not focused or paying attention on his driving. He was possibly drowsy at the time, and that's when he went off the left side of the road and rolled it."
The tour bus had started out in Las Vegas, then made a stop at Utah's Zion National Park. The crash occurred at 6:40 pm roughly 90 miles from Bryce Canyon.