Photo credit: Ben Tidswell
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Highway Patrol says the driver of a bus that crashed on Highway 12 near Bryce Canyon National Park had overcorrected just prior to the crash.
UHP Sgt. Nick Street says after the driver overcorrected on a turn, the bus flipped over, landing again on its wheels. But Street says that before landing on its wheels again, the bus crushed a guardrail which cut into the passenger cabin.
Four people were killed in the accident. At the time of this update, 17 people were hospitalized with serious injuries. Police say the injured people were taken to different hospitals in southern Utah.
The bus was traveling east on Highway 12 when the accident happened. There were 30 people on board, including the driver. Three helicopters were dispatched to the scene of the accident to help with the injured.
UHP Corporal Chris Bishop told KSL Newsradio that they will coordinate with the State Bureau of Investigations to further understand what happened to cause this accident.
Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins is thankful for the volunteer first responders that arrived quickly on the scene.
“A woman from another area, an EMT, stopped and actually knew how to speak the language these people spoke. That was just invaluable,” Perkins said.
This story will be updated.