Chilean Bus Not Authorized To Carry Passengers
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SANTIAGO, Chile – The tour bus that crashed in northern Chile, killing 12 elderly American tourists returning to their cruise ship after an excursion, was unregistered and not authorized to transport passengers, government officials said yesterday.
The cruise line, meanwhile, said the excursion had been arranged privately and was not among those offered to its passengers.
Two Americans survived the crash but suffered broken bones and were moved to an intensive care unit at a local hospital as a precaution, according to Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan and a doctor in Miami.
The Chilean driver and tour guide also were hospitalized, but Juan Carlos Poli, a city hall spokesman in the Pacific port city of Arica, said they were in better condition and the guide was expected to be released yesterday. Mr. Poli said the bus had a capacity of 16 passengers.
The tourists – apparently members of the Jewish group B’nai B’rith on vacation from Connecticut and New Jersey – were returning to Celebrity Cruises’ ship Millennium from an excursion to Lauca National Park Wednesday when the bus swerved to avoid an approaching truck and plunged off the rugged highway near Arica, 1,250 miles north of Santiago, he said.
The white bus tumbled more than 300 feet and ended up crushed and on its side. Rescue crews found the bodies of the victims spread out in the area along with some of their belongings, including local handicraft bags.
Chilean police and hospital officials identified the victims based on immigration forms filled out by the passengers when they entered the country, but they did not give information about hometowns.
The officials said those killed were Miriam Diamond, 76; Hans Wilhelm Otto Eggers, 72; Barbara Rubin, 69; Arthur Joseph Kovar, 67; Frieda Kovar, 74; Robert Rubin, 72; Maria Eggers, 71; Carole Ellen Rochelman, 63; Shirley Bier, 76, Marvin Bier, 79.
They also listed Linda Greenfield, 63, and Ira Greenfield, 68, whose deaths were reported earlier by their rabbi in Stamford, Conn.
Mr. Hanrahan said the bus tour was not among those offered by Celebrity Cruises, which is owned by Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises.
