Seven killed as tour van erupts in ‘thick plume of black smoke’

Horror scenes unfolded as a tour van and pick-up truck collided in a fierce blaze that claimed the lives of multiple passengers and a driver.

Seven people have been killed in a fiery collision between a tour van and a pick-up truck near Yellowstone National Park, Idaho state police said Friday.

The cause of the crash, which happened just before 7.15pm. Thursday, 25km outside the park, remains under investigation.

Both vehicles caught fire.

Six of the 14 tourists in the van died, as well as the driver of the Dodge Ram pick-up.

Another eight people were injured and were transported to hospital.

“It is a very dangerous highway,” said Roger Merrill, 60, who witnessed the vehicles burn after the crash.

“It’s extremely busy.”

Eight patients were transported to local hospitals in the wake of the horror crash. Picture: AP

A witness to the accident says the isolated location caused a delay for first responders. Picture: AP

A video he captured shows a banged up red pick-up truck, and what appears to be a passenger van completely engulfed in flames, with a thick plume of black smoke billowing in the air, as paramedics and firefighters run toward the scene.

Merrill said he and others tried to help the injured passengers on the side of the highway, while anxiously waiting for first responders to arrive.

“It took an unnervingly long time for help to arrive just because of the location,” he said.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission