BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A pickup truck and a tour van collided on a highway leading to Yellowstone National Park, leaving seven people dead and eight others injured, Idaho State Police said.
The crash happened just before 7:15 p.m. Thursday near Henry’s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho, police said in a press release. The state park is roughly 16 miles (26 kilometers) west of Yellowstone National Park.
Authorities have not said what led up to the crash.
Both vehicles caught fire, the Idaho State Police said in a press release. The driver of the Dodge Ram pickup and six people inside the Mercedes passenger van died. The van was carrying a tour group of 14 people, and the surviving occupants were taken to hospitals with injuries, police spokesman Aaron Snell said.
Air ambulances and emergency paramedics responded to the collision, which remains under investigation.
The Fremont County coroner’s office had not released the names of those killed as of Friday morning. The Idaho State Police said officials were still working on notifying family members of those killed and injured, so the agency was not yet releasing the names, ages, hometowns or nationalities of the people involved.
Roger Merrill, 60, was driving home when he saw the flames engulfing the two vehicles as bystanders tried to care for survivors from the van on the side of the highway. Merrill said he often sees tourist vans on the highway that leads to Yellowstone National Park.
“It is a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance of Yellowstone National Park,” he said. “It’s extremely busy.”
Merrill captured video of the wreckage with smoke blanketing the van. Due to the remote location, Merrill said he anxiously awaited the help of first responders.
“It took an unnervingly long time for help to arrive just because of the location,” he said.
The Idaho Transportation Department has identified the highway for safety improvements designed to reduce the severity of crashes, but the project is still in the research and planning phase. That portion of the highway had an average of about 10,500 vehicles traveling it daily in 2023, according to the agency.
___ Dupuy reported from New York City.
