Driver in fatal crash in Utah apologizes to kin of victims

SALT LAKE CITY -- The driver of a tour bus out of Las Vegas that crashed in Utah, killing three Japanese tourists last year, formally apologized to families of the dead Tuesday, saying he deeply regrets his actions.

"I have made a great error, deeply hurt others and have brought sadness into your lives by the lack of my thoughts and by the big mistakes I have made," Yasushi Mikuni wrote in the three-page letter written in Japanese. An English translation of the letter was provided by his Las Vegas attorney, Garrett Ogata. The translator works for Ogata.

"Even though almost a year has passed since that accident, the visions of the guests' happy smiles on the way to Zion (National Park), then the scene just after the accident and at the hospital, are still flashing across my mind," Mikuni wrote.

The bus carrying 14 Japanese tourists was headed from Las Vegas to national parks in Utah on Aug. 9 when it rolled on Interstate 15, 175 miles north of Las Vegas. Three died, and 11 others were injured.

On the day of the crash, Utah Highway Patrol investigators said, Mikuni, 26, a Japanese citizen living in Las Vegas on a U.S. work and education visa, was driving on little sleep after working the day before. Tests showed he also had marijuana in his system. Investigators said they think Mikuni was sleep-deprived, not impaired.

Killed in the crash were Hiroki Hayase, 20, of Osaka, Japan; and Junji Hoshino, 38, and his wife, Junko Hoshino, 40, from Shinjuku, Japan.

Mikuni was charged with 10 felonies, but in May he pleaded guilty to three counts. He faces 15 years in prison when sentenced Aug. 5. Mikuni has been free on $50,000 bond pending the sentencing.

Mikuni, who suffered minor injuries, was driving for Sandy, Utah-based Canyon Transportation Inc. He picked up the group in Las Vegas for a four-day tour of Utah's national parks and the Grand Canyon, troopers and tour organizers said.

The bus had stopped at Zion and was en route to Bryce Canyon National Park when it crashed.

Utah Highway Patrol troopers said Mikuni flew to Salt Lake City and drove the tour bus to Las Vegas, about a seven-hour drive at the speed limit, the day before the crash, then got less than seven hours of sleep.