WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. (AP) — Idaho State Police said Saturday that the driver of the tour van involved in a deadly collision with a pickup truck was licensed in California and the company that organized the trip was Ctour Holiday LLC, a large tour operator that provides international travel services.
The pickup truck driver and six people in the Mercedes van were killed in the crash, which occurred Thursday evening on U.S. Highway 20 near Henry’s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho as the tour group was headed to Yellowstone National Park.
Police identified the pickup driver as 25-year-old Isaih Moreno of Humble, Texas. They have not said whether the driver of the van was among the dead.
Ctour Holiday did not immediately respond Saturday to messages seeking comment.
The van passengers included 12 people of Chinese nationality and one Italian. Police said they were working closely with Ctour Holiday and in contact with the two countries’ consulates.
The Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco said via email that five Chinese citizens were killed and eight were injured.
The consulate “immediately activated its emergency mechanism to provide consular protection and assistance to the injured and the families of the victims,” it added.
The crash remains under investigation, and police said the bodies would be taken to the Ada County Coroner’s Office for autopsies and formal confirmation of their identities.
Three people were seriously injured: Two were flown to an Idaho Falls hospital and one to a hospital in Bozeman, Montana, according to police. Information on their conditions was not released, and the hospitals did not immediately respond to messages seeking updates.
Others were taken to local hospitals with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
“Due to privacy considerations, no information regarding the medical status of the injured will be released,” police said in a statement.
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