‘It was horrific.’ East Idaho crash kills 7, mostly foreign nationals

At least seven people, including six foreign nationals, were killed in a fiery crash Thursday night on U.S. Highway 20 in Island Park.

Emergency crews were called to the scene near Henrys Lake around 7:15 p.m. for a report of a collision involving a Dodge Ram pickup truck and a Mercedes passenger van carrying 14 tourists, according to an Idaho State Police news release. Both vehicles caught fire after the crash.

Idaho State Police Lt. Marvin Crane says the tour van was transporting foreign nationals. Six of them died as a result of the crash, as well as the driver of the truck.

According to a news release from the Idaho State Police, the driver of the pickup truck was identified as 25-year-old Isaiah Moreno of Humble, Texas.

“Due to the complexity of the incident, the identification of all individuals involved and notification of their next of kin will take time,” the release said. “ISP will continue to provide verified information on behalf of the Fremont County Coroner’s Office as it becomes available. The Coroner’s Office is not conducting interviews related to this crash.”

The Dodge was traveling westbound, while the Mercedes van was traveling eastbound toward Yellowstone National Park, ISP said.

According to the release, three of the van occupants were flown by air ambulance; one to Bozeman, Montana, and two to Idaho Falls.

The remaining individuals were transported by ground ambulance to area hospitals with injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.

U.S. 20 was closed for nearly seven hours while emergency responders and the Idaho Transportation Department worked to manage the scene and clear the roadway. The highway was open as of Friday morning.

Fremont County Sheriff Bart Quayle said many survivors were taken to local hospitals, although not all their conditions are known.

“In terms of an automobile accident, this is an extremely unusual and horrific one,” Quayle said.

According to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center spokesperson Coleen Neimann, two patients were transported to the Idaho Falls hospital via air ambulance. Their conditions are unknown.

Madison Memorial Hospital spokesperson Douglas McBride says five people were transported by ambulance to the Rexburg hospital. Three were treated and released, and two remain admitted in stable condition.

Witness account

Roger Merrill, a witness to the crash, says he was in traffic a few cars behind, only a few minutes from his house, when the flow of cars stopped moving.

“I got there, I’m guessing within five minutes of the accident happening,” Merrill said. “It was obvious it was horrific.”

Merrill says he noticed groups of people getting out of their cars with blankets and other helpful items, rushing to the scene to help the victims.

“I could see up ahead that there were a lot of people helping,” Merrill said. “I didn’t have blankets or anything with me, so I held back, but you know, it appeared that there were people on scene assisting.”

Merrill said a Fremont County Sheriff’s deputy arrived 5 to 10 minutes after the crash and began helping. At this point, the fire hadn’t started yet.

“The fire didn’t begin immediately,” Merrill said. “It was probably at least 10 minutes after I arrived before the fire erupted.”

According to Merrill, the deputy used a fire extinguisher to tame the flames once they began, but the fire quickly spread from the truck to the tourist van.

“At first, I thought it appeared that maybe there was just some steam coming from the vehicles that had crashed, but then after a few minutes, I could see flames coming out,” Merrill said.

Merrill said a medical helicopter was next to arrive on the scene before several other law enforcement entities arrived.

Merrill said the foreign nationals appeared to be of Asian descent. A small group of them were able to get out of the van and walk away on their own.

“A lot of the cars that were stopped as well were also (Asian) tourists,” Merrill said. “So they went up to assist those that had come out of the bus and were helping interpret.”

One woman was particularly injured, Merrill said, and witnesses were trying to keep her calm and warm until help arrived.

“(She) looked like she was in shock,” Merrill said.

Merrill spends much of the year in Island Park as the owner of the Playmill Theater, and says he’s never seen a crash quite like this one.

“We have a lot of employees who travel that road and we tell them every year, be careful because there’s accidents that close the highways every year,” Merrill said. “I’ve never seen anything this bad.”

This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 1:30 PM.