By BEATRICE DUPUY and REBECCA BOONE, Related Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A pickup truck and a tour van with foreigner guests — together with two folks from Italy — collided on a freeway resulting in Yellowstone Nationwide Park, leaving seven folks useless and eight others injured, Idaho State Police mentioned.
Police haven’t mentioned what precisely induced the wreck, however the Dodge Ram truck was touring west whereas the Mercedes van was touring east towards Yellowstone when it occurred. Video from the scene confirmed clear climate circumstances on the time.
Rescue employees arrive to the scene after a lethal collision between a pickup truck and tour van close to Henry’s Lake State Park in jap Idaho on Thursday, Could 1, 2025. (Roger Merrill through AP)
Rescue employees arrive to the scene after a lethal collision between a pickup truck and tour van close to Henry’s Lake State Park in jap Idaho on Thursday, Could 1, 2025. (Roger Merrill through AP)
Present Caption
1 of two
Rescue employees arrive to the scene after a lethal collision between a pickup truck and tour van close to Henry’s Lake State Park in jap Idaho on Thursday, Could 1, 2025. (Roger Merrill through AP)
Increase
Each autos caught fireplace, police mentioned. The motive force of the pickup and 6 folks contained in the Mercedes passenger van died. The truck driver was recognized Friday as Isaih Moreno, 25, of Humble, Texas. Figuring out the others will take a while, based on police.
Fremont County coroner, Brenda Dye, advised The New York Instances that she was ready for DNA take a look at outcomes to establish the six others as a result of the our bodies had been unrecognizable. She mentioned all six had been from outdoors the U.S. Two had been from Italy and it wasn’t instantly recognized the place the others had been from, she mentioned.
The van was carrying a tour group of 14 folks, and the surviving occupants had been taken to hospitals with accidents, police spokesperson Aaron Snell mentioned.
Two had been flown to an Idaho Falls hospital and one was flown to a Bozeman, Montana, hospital, based on police. Their circumstances weren’t launched. The others had been taken to space hospitals with accidents believed to be non-life-threatening, police mentioned.
The crash stays underneath investigation.
Roger Merrill, 60, was driving dwelling when he noticed flames engulfing the 2 autos as bystanders tried to take care of survivors from the van on the facet of the freeway. Merrill mentioned he usually sees vacationer vans on the freeway.
“It is a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance of Yellowstone National Park,” he mentioned. “It’s extremely busy.”
Merrill captured video of the wreckage with smoke blanketing the van. Because of the distant location, Merrill mentioned he anxiously awaited the assistance of first responders.
“It took an unnervingly long time for help to arrive just because of the location,” he mentioned.
Police mentioned Friday {that a} Fremont County sheriff’s deputy arrived shortly after the crash and, with the assistance of bystanders, instantly helped injured van occupants because it caught fireplace.
The state is working with native officers to get “answers on what led to this terrible tragedy,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little mentioned in a social media publish.
The Idaho Transportation Division had recognized the freeway for security enhancements geared toward lowering the severity of crashes, however the venture was nonetheless within the analysis and planning section. A median of about 10,500 autos traveled that portion of the freeway every day in 2023, based on the company.
Dupuy reported from New York Metropolis. Related Press reporter Lisa Baumann contributed to this story from Bellingham, Washington.
Initially Printed: Could 2, 2025 at 12:25 PM EDT
