Bus crash in rural Utah kills 13 year old, injures 12 others

Aerial photograph of Green River (Photo By Bobak Ha’Eri – Own work, CC BY 3.0)

SALT LAKE CITY — A Greyhound bus careened from a highway and plunged into a deep wash, killing a 13-year-old girl and injuring 12 other people on New Year’s Eve in rural Utah, state troopers said Monday.

Investigators were still trying to determine what caused the crash along Interstate 70 west of the city of Green River.

However, a passenger reported a possible medical issue with the driver, the Utah Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The bus was heading west across the desert from Green River to Las Vegas, Trooper Jared Cornia said.

It went off the shoulder of the highway around 11 p.m. and plunged into the wash, crashing about 200 feet from the highway.

Authorities identified the girl killed as Summer Pinzon from Azusa, California. She was travelling with her mother, who was taken to a hospital after the crash.

Authorities did not release the mother’s name or additional details about her and her daughter.

The bus driver and two passengers were taken by helicopters in serious condition to hospitals in Colorado and Utah.

Cornia did not have updates on their conditions.

Other injured passengers were taken by ambulances to hospitals.

Utah’s Highway Patrol initially reported 13 people, including the driver, were aboard the bus, with 11 injured.

The count was revised Monday evening.

Cornia said there were a total of 14 people aboard, including the driver.

Cornia said roads were clear and conditions were good and were not believed to have been a factor in the crash.

He said investigators were trying to obtain video from a camera aboard the bus to help determine what happened.

Lanesha Gipson, a spokeswoman for Greyhound, said the company is co-operating with authorities and conducting its own investigation.

Gipson did not have information on the driver.