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A collision between a tour bus and a truck near Yellowstone National Park killed seven people and injured eight others on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Police were alerted to the crash at 19:15 local time (02:15 GMT), when a Chevy pickup truck and a van carrying 14 tourists collided on a highway in eastern Idaho, state police said.<\/p>\n
Both vehicles caught fire. The driver of the truck and six of the passengers in the van died.<\/p>\n
Police are still investigating the cause. The highway where the crash took place leads into the park, which is now entering its peak tourist season. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A photo from a passerby shows smoke billowing and flames near the crumpled front of the truck.<\/p>\n
The witness who took the photo, local resident Roger Merrill, told the BBC’s US partner CBS News he was on his way home when he saw the scene unfolding. <\/p>\n
Both vehicles were on fire, he said, and bystanders were trying to care for the survivors on the side of the highway.<\/p>\n
“It is a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance of Yellowstone National Park,” he said. “It’s extremely busy.”<\/p>\n
The highway was closed for seven hours while emergency teams treated victims and cleared the crash site, about 16 miles from Yellowstone’s entrance. <\/p>\n
Police said the local coroner’s office will release the names of the dead after family members have been notified.<\/p>\n
Yellowstone, the US’s oldest national park, covers nearly 3,500 sq miles in three states, including Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. <\/p>\n
It draws an average of four million tourists every year, with the majority of visitors coming between May and September, according to the National Park Service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n