Family members of some of the Chinese tourists killed or injured in a bus accident in Arizona on Friday are expected to leave for the United States Tuesday armed with a lawyer and a doctor.
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A lightly injured Chinese man (L) is interviewed in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 31, 2009. The nine Chinese tourists injured in a deadly tour bus crash in Arizona were mostly in stable condition Saturday, according to hospital and Chinese Consulate officials. A fatal tour bus accident happened one day before left six Chinese tourists and a travel guide dead and seriously injuring 10 others on U.S. 93 highway near Dolan Springs.[Xinhua Photo] |
They will be accompanied by members of local government and travel agencies, said Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the Shanghai Tourism Administration.
The accident caused the death of seven people: Six were Chinese nationals, including one from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the seventh was a Chinese tour guide with a US passport, a spokesman with the administration said, quoting the list provided by the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Eight other Chinese nationals were injured when the tour bus crashed just south of the Hoover Dam following a visit to the Grand Canyon, an optional trip not included in the basic tour package. Five members of the group skipped the trip.
The collision occurred when the group's bus veered to the right of the northbound lanes of Highway 93, overcorrected, and darted across the desert median before hitting oncoming traffic, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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People of the Shanghai Donghu International Travel Service holds an urgent meeting at the company in Shanghai Feb. 1, 2009. Shanghai Tourism Administration published Sunday the names of seven Chinese nationals killed and eight injured in Friday's bus crash on a highway near the Hoover Dam of Arizona in the United States. The victims were all members of a tour group organized by the Shanghai Donghu International Travel Service.[Xinhua Photo] |
Shanghai has set up a task force headed by Vice-Mayor Zhao Wen to handle the investigation into the accident, in collaboration with the Consulate General in Los Angeles.
"The passports will be issued Tuesday and the airline has reserved seats for them," Cheng said.
The China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd (CPIC) has paid 1.85 million yuan ($270,000) to families of the six dead from the mainland and Hong Kong, according to the CPIC Shanghai Branch.
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A spokesperson of the Shanghai Donghu International Travel Service talks to reporters at the company in Shanghai Feb. 1, 2009. [Xinhua Photo] |
Related: China seeks assistance in helping bus crash victims
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(China Daily February 2, 2009)