Grand Canyon tour bus company sued in deadly crash

Two tourists have sued the Grand Canyon tour company whose bus rolled over last week about 70 miles southeast of Las Vegas, killing one person and injuring dozens more.

The complaint was filed Thursday on behalf of Eddie Blocker of Volusia County, Florida, and Sandra McDougal from Lauderdale County, Alabama, against Comedy On Deck Tours Inc.

On Jan. 22, Blocker and McDougal were among more than 40 people on the commercial tour bus traveling to Grand Canyon West. Shortly before 12:30 p.m., the bus rolled over near mile marker 5 on Diamond Bar Road in Meadview, Arizona.

Shelley Ann Voges, 53, of Boonville, Indiana, died at the scene, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.

Forty others were taken by ambulance to Kingman Regional Medical Center.

Three people were hospitalized in Arizona with critical injuries, the Sheriff’s Office said. Two of them were later taken to Las Vegas area hospitals for treatment.

A man who answered the tour company’s phone on Thursday declined to give his name but said it was a small business that has been devastated by the crash.

“This is a really big personal tragedy — it’s nothing compared to what people on the bus went through,” he said. “This is someone who booked my tour based on our great reviews; now look what happened. I don’t know what to think.”

The lawsuit alleges that Comedy on Deck Tours, which is based in Las Vegas, its driver and unnamed employees are liable for damages in the crash because the company was obligated to train the driver.

The driver was “inexperienced, incompetent and/or unfit to drive the subject commercial vehicle, a tour bus,” according to the complaint, which also alleges the bus was speeding.

The two tourists who have filed the complaint are seeking damages for loss of earning capacity, medical treatment and for the pain, suffering, anxiety and disability incurred in the crash.

Robert Eglet, one of the attorneys who filed the suit, said that he expects more passengers to come forward.

“This was a pretty horrific accident, and it clearly looks like there was speeding going on that could rise to the level of recklessness,” he said Thursday. “We’re still waiting for all the reports and for the police investigation to come back, but it’s important to get these cases on file quickly so we can make sure no evidence is destroyed.”

The area of the Jan. 22 crash was has seen at least three tour bus crashes in recent years, two involving fatalities.

In October 2010, two passengers died and several others injured in the crash of a Las Vegas tour bus headed for the Skywalk at Grand Canyon West in northwest Arizona.

In July 2010, several people were injured after a car collided with a Grand Canyon tour bus on U.S. Highway 93 at Pearce Ferry Road, 48 miles south of Boulder City.

In January 2009, seven people were killed and nine others injured after a tour bus carrying Chinese tourists overturned 27 miles south of the Hoover Dam.

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.