Weather linked to crash that killed 9

Poor weather conditions may have forced a bus to detour from its normal route before it rolled several times near Mexican Hat, San Juan County, killing nine people and injuring 20 others.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Ted Tingey said Corporate Transportation 'N Tours was investigating whether one of its buses taking a group of skiers from Telluride, Colo., to Phoenix was forced to take U.S. 163 Sunday night because of road closures, bad weather, or if the bus was on its intended route.

The bus rolled 10 miles north of Mexican Hat Sunday night.

"It looks like the bus failed to negotiate a turn," Roden said Monday. "It rolled several times."

Pictures of the crash provided by the UHP showed the bus' roof was sheared off and debris scattered all around it. The 51 passengers inside the bus were tossed around and many were ejected, Utah Highway Patrol trooper Cameron Roden said.

The number of people killed rose to nine Monday when a woman taken to Saint Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo. died as a result of her injuries.

Monday night, the names of the victims who died, all of them Arizona residents, were released. The youngest victim was a 12-year-old girl, and the oldest was 67.

Many of the victims were teenagers from Arizona high schools, including Erica Sheffey, a junior at Deer Valley High School, and Marc Rasmussen, a senior at the school.

"I am so sorry to have to convey to you that at this time two of our students perished on the horrific bus crash in the Four Corners area," Deer Valley principal Barbara Dobbs said in a letter posted on the school's Web site Monday night. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to them and their families."

Dobbs said grief counseling would be provided to students at the school who need it.

The bus was part of a 16-bus caravan carrying a group that had booked a trip through Phoenix-based Alpine Ski and Travel, according to the Arizona Republic. The bus that crashed detoured from the rest of the group in Colorado, the man who runs Alpine told the Republic. The other buses returned to Arizona safely.

People who said they were on the other buses posted comments on the Arizona Republic's Web site Monday, saying the road conditions driving home were very treacherous and describing the trip as "scary."