Lawyer: Tourist saw bus door ajar before fatal crash

An open door may have been a factor in last week's tour bus crash that killed seven people and injured several more south of Hoover Dam, an attorney said Monday.

Attorney Robert Murdock said a passenger on the bus carrying Chinese tourists saw the 48-year-old driver trying to close the door while the bus was in motion on U.S. Highway 93 in Arizona, just south of the Nevada border.

The driver, identified by authorities as Han Dong of Rosemead, Calif., then lost control and the bus rolled over, the passenger told Murdock.

Murdock would not identify the passenger.

Authorities said Monday that the investigation into the cause of the crash could take months.

Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. James Warriner said investigators will be checking the driver's history, medical records and certification as a bus operator.

Officials do not suspect Dong was impaired while driving, nor do they suspect there was any "criminal involvement" in the crash.

"All we can determine at this point in time is that the driver was distracted for some unknown reason," Warriner said.

Seven people were killed and 10 were seriously injured Friday afternoon when the bus drifted into the highway's right shoulder. Dong overcorrected, sending the bus across two lanes and into a gravel median. The bus, which did not have seat belts, rolled over at least once and ejected some passengers.

An 11th person was injured when a motorcyclist crashed after the bus overturned.

Authorities said the passengers were returning to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon when the bus crashed near Dolan Springs, Ariz. The tourists were Chinese nationals who had flown from Shanghai to San Francisco.

Susan Carothers, a spokeswoman with the California Public Utilities Commission, said D.W. Tour & Charter of San Gabriel, Calif., is the company that owned the tour bus involved in the crash.

Carothers said the company's charter was suspended because its liability insurance expired Monday. She said the problem appeared to be unrelated to Friday's crash.

"I believe it's a coincidence," she said of the suspension.

D.W. Tour officials could not be reached for comment.

Carothers said the company was fined $750 by her agency in October 2007 because it used unlicensed subcontractors twice between the months of May and July.

Pete Katowski of the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that is also investigating the crash, said D.W. Tour was considered "satisfactory" by federal standards at the time of the accident.

He said the 30-seat bus was similar in size to an airport shuttle bus. The bus was federally certified to travel on all U.S. highways, Katowski said.

The company also passed its review in August of 2007, six months after a previous review indicated the company had insufficient drug and alcohol testing policies for its drivers.

D.W. Tour owns two buses and employs four drivers. It was not immediately known Monday whether Dong was employed by the company or by another company that was contracted by D.W. Tour.

On Monday, the Clark County coroner's office identified one of the seven tourists who died in the crash as 56-year-old Zhen Quan Sheng.

The coroner's office said he died of blunt force head injuries. Six other deceased crash victims remained unidentified Monday.

Dong was in fair condition Monday afternoon at University Medical Center. Investigators said they haven't spoken with the bus driver yet because of his condition.

Three other crash victims were at UMC Monday, two in critical condition. Two people listed in fair condition were receiving treatment at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

The youngest passenger, 8-year-old Shuang Wu, was discharged from UMC Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to the report. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.