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| Idaho: seven people killed in highway crash near Yellowstone, police say | Idaho: seven people killed in highway crash near Yellowstone, police say |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Authorities say pickup truck and tour van collided about 16 miles from park entrance and both vehicles caught fire | Authorities say pickup truck and tour van collided about 16 miles from park entrance and both vehicles caught fire |
| 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. | 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 7.15pm on Thursday near Henry’s Lake state park in eastern Idaho, police said in a press release. The state park is roughly 16 miles (26km) west of Yellowstone. | The crash happened just before 7.15pm on Thursday near Henry’s Lake state park in eastern Idaho, police said in a press release. The state park is roughly 16 miles (26km) west of Yellowstone. |
| Authorities have not said what led to the crash. | Authorities have not said what led 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, a police spokesman, Aaron Snell, said. | 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, a police spokesman, Aaron Snell, said. |
| Air ambulances and emergency paramedics responded to the collision, which remains under investigation. | Air ambulances and emergency paramedics responded to the collision, which remains under investigation. |
| The Fremont county coroner, Brenda Dye, was quoted by the New York Times as saying that the pickup driver was from Texas and that all six occupants of the van who died were from outside the United States, two of them from Italy. | |
| 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 saw tourist vans on the highway that leads to Yellowstone. | 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 saw tourist vans on the highway that leads to Yellowstone. |
| “It is a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance of Yellowstone national park,” he said. “It’s extremely busy.” | “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. | 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. | “It took an unnervingly long time for help to arrive just because of the location,” he said. |
| According to Dye, two eyewitnesses to the crash jumped out of their vehicle to pull victims from the van, and managed to extract eight people from the wreckage, including a child, before the van caught fire, the Times reported. | |
| 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. | 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. | That portion of the highway had an average of about 10,500 vehicles traveling it daily in 2023, according to the agency. |
| State police said the highway was closed in both directions for nearly seven hours while emergency and transportation crews worked to manage the scene and clear the roadway. | |
| Reuters contributed to this report |