7 people are dead after a truck and tour van collided near Yellowstone, police say

Rescue workers arrive to the scene after a deadly collision between a pickup truck and tour van near Henry s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho on Thursday May Roger Merrill via AP Rescue workers arrive to the scene after a deadly collision between a pickup truck and tour van near Henry s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho on Thursday May Roger Merrill via AP BOISE Idaho AP A pickup truck and a tour van with foreigner visitors including two people from Italy collided on a highway leading to Yellowstone National Park leaving seven people dead and eight others injured Idaho State Police disclosed The crash happened just before p m Thursday on U S Highway near Henry s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho police commented in a news release The state park is roughly miles kilometers west of Yellowstone National Park Police have not announced what exactly caused the wreck but the Dodge Ram truck was traveling west while the Mercedes van was traveling east toward Yellowstone when it happened Video from the scene evidenced clear weather conditions at the time Both vehicles caught fire police noted The driver of the pickup and six people inside the Mercedes tourist van died The truck driver was identified Friday as Isaih Moreno of Humble Texas Identifying the others will take specific time according to police Fremont County coroner Brenda Dye communicated The New York Times that she was waiting for DNA test results to identify the six others because the bodies were unrecognizable She mentioned all six were from outside the U S Two were from Italy and it wasn t right away known where the others were from she noted The van was carrying a tour group of people and the surviving occupants were taken to hospitals with injuries police spokesperson Aaron Snell revealed Two were flown to an Idaho Falls hospital and one was flown to a Bozeman Montana hospital according to police Their conditions were not published The others were taken to area hospitals with injuries assumed to be non-life-threatening police explained The crash remains under study Roger Merrill was driving home when he saw flames engulfing the two vehicles as bystanders tried to care for survivors from the van on the side of the highway Merrill commented he often sees tourist vans on the highway It is a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance of Yellowstone National Park he stated It s extremely busy Merrill captured video of the wreckage with smoke blanketing the van Due to the remote location Merrill disclosed he anxiously awaited the help of first responders It took an unnervingly long time for help to arrive just because of the location he noted Police reported Friday that a Fremont County sheriff s deputy arrived shortly after the crash and with the help of bystanders forthwith helped injured van occupants as it caught fire The state is working with local personnel to get answers on what led to this terrible tragedy Idaho Gov Brad Little reported in a social media post The Idaho Transportation Department had identified the highway for safety improvements aimed at reducing the severity of crashes but the project was still in the research and planning phase An average of about vehicles traveled that portion of the highway daily in according to the agency Dupuy broadcasted from New York City Associated Press reporter Lisa Baumann contributed to this story from Bellingham Washington Source