32 Hurt in Grand Canyon Bus Crash

Thirty-two people were injured Thursday, four of them critically, when a tour bus headed to the Grand Canyon reportedly from San Gabriel crossed a highway center line and collided with a travel trailer being towed by a van, officials said.

Four helicopters and nine ambulances carried the injured to Flagstaff Medical Center, said Sgt. Rick Watling, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

“It was pretty ugly out there,” Watling said. “There were lots of people stretched out for well over a quarter of a mile.”

Watling said the tour bus was about 35 miles south of the south rim of the Grand Canyon when it swerved across the center line of two-lane Arizona 64 and struck the rear of the 28-foot travel trailer. The bus ran off the road, striking trees and a fence.

Officer Bill McCane of the Department of Public Safety said the driver, Zhi L. Liang, told officers he lost control of the vehicle when he bent over to pick up something he had dropped.

Officials said the bus was operated by Charter Master of San Gabriel, but no listing could be found for the company. All of the injured were on the tour bus, which was carrying 52 passengers. Translators were needed because most victims speak Chinese.