Seven killed in Tourbuscrash

A collision between a tour bus and a truck near Yellowstone National Park killed seven people and injured eight others on Thursday.

The police were informed of the crash at 19:15 Local time (02:15 GMT), when a Chevy -Pick -Up and a van with 14 tourists collided on a highway in East -Idaho, the State Police said.

Both vehicles found fire. The driver of the truck and six of the passengers died in the van.

The police are still investigating the cause. The highway where the crash took place leads to the park, which is now going into its peak tourist season.

A photo of a passer -by shows smoke wavy and flames near the crumpled hood of the truck.

The witness who took the photo, the local resident Roger Merrill, told the American partner CBS News of the BBC that he was on his way home when he saw the scene unfold.

Both vehicles were on fire, he said, and bystanders tried to take care of the survivors on the side of the highway.

“It is a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance of Yellowstone National Park,” he said. “It’s extremely busy.”

The highway was closed for seven hours while emergency teams treated victims and cleaning up the crash location, about 16 miles from the yellowstone entrance.

The police said that the office of the local coroner will release the names of the dead after family members have been informed.

Yellowstone, the oldest National Park in the US, covers almost 3,500 square miles in three states, including Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

It attracts an average of four million tourists every year, with most visitors coming between May and September, according to the National Park Service.