Names of 4 who died in Bryce Canyon crash released

Names of 4 who died in Bryce Canyon crash released

(Spenser Heaps, KSL)


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SALT LAKE CITY — The four people killed Friday when a tour bush crashed near Bryce Canyon National Park have been identified by authorities.

Three women, Ling Geng, 68, Xiuyun Chen, 67, and Zhang Caiyu, 62; and one man, ZhongLiang Qiu, 65, died. All four are from Shanghai, China.

Twelve people remained hospitalized Saturday.

As of about noon Saturday, five people remained in critical condition and seven remained in serious condition, according to Intermountain Healthcare.

Most of the patients were receiving care at Dixie Regional Medical Center, while two remained at Utah Valley Hospital, Intermountain officials said.

At least two who were also injured in the crash had been discharged.

On Friday, the bus carrying Chinese tourists crashed and rolled on state Route 12 near Red Canyon about 11:15 a.m. The Utah Highway Patrol said 31 people, including the driver, were onboard.

It appeared that the bus drifted off the right side of the road, UHP Sgt. Nick Street said Friday. The driver then overcorrected, causing the bus to fishtail and roll over. The bus rolled into a guard rail and landed on its wheels, he said.

The guard rail caused significant damage to the middle of the bus. Four people were declared dead at the scene.

The investigation into the crash remained underway Saturday. Street said the agency expected to meet with members of the National Transportation Safety Board, which was also investigating, to review information Saturday afternoon.

No details about what might have caused the crash have been released.

Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins said volunteers were vital in caring for the injured in the crash’s aftermath.

“Anytime we have any type of a situation like this, it’s volunteers that do it. In fact, all of our EMTs and our firemen are all volunteers. And regardless of whether it’s something of this magnitude or it’s any medical event, it’s our volunteers that take care of it,” he said.

On Saturday, he said, several volunteers had called to talk to him about what happened, and he believed the responders were “kind of coping with it.”

Editor's note: Authorities originally identified one of the deceased as Zhongliang Caiyu. His name has been corrected.

Contributing: Alex Cabrero, Graham Dudley, KSL

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Ashley Imlay is an evening news manager for KSL.com. A lifelong Utahn, Ashley has also worked as a reporter for the Deseret News and is a graduate of Dixie State University.

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