Arizona floodwaters sweep tour bus off road; no injuries reported

Floodwaters in rural northern Arizona swept a Las Vegas-bound tour bus into a wash where it tipped over, but officials said all the passengers escaped safely.

A round of heavy rains over the weekend put much of northwestern Arizona under a flash-flood watch.

The Sunday afternoon incident happened at Pierce Ferry Road, in a rural area about 50 to 75 miles north of Kingman. The bus, reportedly carrying more than 30 passengers, was returning to Las Vegas after visiting the Grand Canyon, officials said.

The bus had started to float away while emergency responders were en route, but it came to a halt after rolling onto its side about 300 yards from the road, officials with the Northern Arizona Consolidated Fire District said in a news release.

Fire Chief Patrick Moore told ABC15 that the people in the bus climbed out through the driver’s window onto the side of the vehicle, then jumped onto a nearby road bank.

They waited on dry land until emergency responders arrived, officials said.

“The occupants were extremely lucky to have survived the ordeal and were very fortunate to have no fatalities or injuries due to the remote location,” Moore said in a statement.

Officials didn’t identify the tour bus company, which they said was sending another bus to pick up the passengers.

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