7 people are dead after a truck and tour van collided near Yellowstone, police say
Source: Associated Press, via WTOP
7 people are dead after a truck and tour van collided near Yellowstone, police say
The Associated Press
May 2, 2025, 2:47 PM
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — 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 7:15 p.m. Thursday near Henry’s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho, police said in a press release. The state park is roughly 16 miles (26 kilometers) west of Yellowstone National Park. … Authorities have not said what led up 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, police spokesman Aaron Snell said.
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Of the 13 passengers in the van, 12 had Chinese nationality and one was Italian
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
MAY 19, 2025
The Roosevelt Arch entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana. Beacon file photo
BOISE, Idaho – Idaho police on Friday released the names of six people from China, Italy and California killed when a pickup truck collided with their tour van in a fiery crash near Yellowstone National Park earlier this month.
Idaho State Police said Jianping Li, 71, of Guangxi, China, and Xiaoming Jiang, 66, of Guilin, China, died from the May 1 crash along with Ivana Wen, 28, of Milan. … Two of the deceased travelers were California residents: Li Nie, 64, and Aifeng Wan, 53, both of Arcadia. The van’s 30-year-old driver Yu Zhang, of Eastvale, California, was also killed. … Idaho police earlier Friday listed Jian Shi, 56, of Shanghai, as among the dead but later corrected their statement to say Shi sustained injuries but survived the crash. Police said the first statement should have included Li as among the dead.
There were 14 people in the van. Of the 13 passengers, 12 had Chinese nationality and one was Italian, police said. Survivors were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries. … The truck’s driver also died. Authorities earlier identified him as Isaih Moreno of Humble, Texas. … Investigators determined the Dodge Ram driven by Moreno crossed the center line and collided with the Mercedes van driven by Zhang. Police said they were continuing to investigate why the truck crossed the center line.
The highway where the crash happened south of West Yellowstone, Montana, offers a way to get between Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in the spring before a north-south route is plowed and the park fully opens for summer.
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