Victims' names in Arizona bus crash released

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-01 17:02

SHANGHAI -- 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.

Arizona Department of Public Safety officers take photos after a fatal tour bus accident that left seven Chinese tourists dead, in Arizona January 30, 2009. Shanghai Tourism Administration published Sunday the names of seven Chinese nationals killed and eight injured in Friday's bus crash. [Agencies] Video: Bus crashes in Arizona kills 7 Chinese

The seven dead included one from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and six from the mainland, a spokesman with the administration said, quoting the list provided by the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.

Information provided by the Consulate General indicated eight tourists were injured. One of them came from Hong Kong and the other seven from the Chinese mainland.

The victims were with a 20-member tour group that had flown from Shanghai to San Francisco.

The accident happened during their visit to the Grand Canyon, an optional trip whose expenses were not included in the package price. Five members of the group chose not to participate in the excursion, the Shanghai Tourism Administration said.

Shanghai has set up a task force, with vice mayor Zhao Wen in charge, to assist emergency rescue and stay in close contact with the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.

The tourism administration is assisting the victims' families to arrange travel to the United States.

The seven victims were Zhong Yujing (transliteration) from HK, Ge Xiazhen from Hangzhou, Zhu Guoying, Sun Mengqiu, Zhu Yongshun, Sheng Zhenquan and their guide Chen Wenting.