A pickup truck and tour van collision near Yellowstone National Park has killed seven people and injured eight others, the Idaho State Police said.
The crash happened just before 7:15 p.m. Thursday on a highway near Henry's Lake State Park in eastern Idaho. The state park is roughly 16 miles west of Yellowstone National Park.
Both vehicles caught fire after the crash, the Idaho State Police said in a news 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.
An image provided to the Associated Press by witness Roger Merrill showed the aftermath of the crash, with flames and smoke emanating from the wreckage.
Rescue workers arrive at the scene of a deadly collision between a pickup truck and tour van near Henry's Lake State Park in eastern Idaho, May 1, 2025.
Roger Merrill via AP
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."
Due to the remote location, Merrill said he anxiously awaited the help of first responders.
"Due to the severity of the injuries, one air ambulance and additional air and ground resources were dispatched," police said.
Authorities have not said what led up to the crash on U.S. Highway 20, which remains under investigation.
The Fremont County coroner's office had not yet 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.
Police said Highway 20 was fully closed while first responders investigated the incident. On social media, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office said the highway had reopened.
The crash happened less than a year after six people were killed when a pickup crashed into a passenger van on the same highway in Idaho.