Driver at fault in deadly Yellowstone crash had blood alcohol level twice the legal limit: police
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A driver who crashed a pickup into a tour van near Yellowstone National Park earlier this month, causing the death of seven people, had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for driving, police said Friday. 

Isaiah Moreno, 25, of Humble, Texas, was operating a Dodge Ram pickup truck on U.S. Highway 20 in eastern Idaho when his vehicle crossed the center line and collided head-on with a Mercedes tour van carrying more than a dozen people.

Both vehicles burst into flames, and Moreno, along with six people from China, Italy and California, were killed. Survivors were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries. 

Idaho truck on fire following crash near Yellowstone National Park

The fatal crash happened in eastern Idaho, about 16 miles west of Yellowstone National Park. (Roger Merrill/TMX)

Roger Merrill, 60, told The Associated Press he was driving home when he came upon the collision, and he said there was an anxious wait for first responders.

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

Deadly tour van crash in eastern Idaho

The aftermath of a May 1 crash between a tour van and pickup truck along U.S. Highway 20 near Henry’s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho. (Roger Merrill/TMX)

ISP troopers responded to the collision at milepost 399. The highway where the crash happened is on a route between Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons that is open in the spring before a north-south route is plowed and the park fully opens for summer.

The victims in the tour van were named by Local News 8 as van driver Yu Zhang, 30, of Eastvale, California; Ivana Wen, 28, of Milan, Italy; Jianping Li, 71, of Guangxi, China; Xiaoming Jiang, 66, of Guilin, China; Li Nie, 64, of Arcadia, California; and Aifeng Wan, 53, also of Arcadia, California.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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