The Salt Lake Tribune, "Rollover deaths stun USU; School's field trip to a Box Elder farm ends in a crash, killing nine"

          A Utah State University field trip to a Box Elder County farm ended in tragedy Monday afternoon when a van carrying the students blew a tire on Interstate 84 and rolled four times down an embankment, throwing all 11 on board from the van and killing nine.
 
         The driver [and five passengers] were pronounced dead by emergency crews when they arrived at the crash site about seven miles west of Tremonton.

          Another passenger later died at Bear River Hospital in Tremonton. The eighth died after being flown to University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, while the ninth died overnight in a hospital in Ogden.

          Two of the students remained in critical condition Monday night.

          Police used witness descriptions of the accident and skid marks to ascertain how the van left the road. It appeared the van was speeding when the left rear tire blew, Nelson said. It was not clear how far above the posted 75 mph limit the van was traveling, he said.

          A motorist who was following the van said pieces of tire flew from the van before it veered off the road and rolled. "It looked like bodies were being catapulted out," Nelson said.

          Nelson said the students had been on a field trip to a farm west of Tremonton. They learned about farm equipment and were returning to the USU campus in Logan just before 4 p.m. on the sunny, clear afternoon.

          Officials weren't certain of who was driving the vehicle but Albrecht said the van had undergone a full safety inspection at the end of June when it was found to be in compliance with all requirements. Once the identity of the driver is known, university officials will be able to determine whether the driver completed the university's driver safety program that was implemented after a 15-passenger van accident in 2001.

          "The University has adopted a policy that all those who drive 15-passenger vans must have either a Utah State University Van Certificate or a valid Commercial Drivers License," according to USU Policy 514.1, Use of University Vehicles.

          Although this is not the first 15-passenger van accident USU officials have had to deal with, it is the worst, according to spokesman John DeVilbiss.