Idaho State Police said a pickup truck and tourist truck crash near Yellowstone National Park has killed seven people and injured eight others.

The crash occurred before 7:15 p.m. Thursday on a highway near Henry Lake State Park in eastern Idaho. The State Park is about 16 miles west of Yellowstone National Park.

Idaho State Police said in a press release that the two vehicles caught fire after the crash. The driver of the Dodge Ram pickup and six people in the Mercedes passenger van died. Police spokesman Aaron Snell said the van had a travel team of 14 people and the surviving residents were taken to the injured hospital.

State police identified the driver Friday as Isaih Moreno, a modest 25-year-old in Texas.

Images provided to the Associated Press by witness Roger Merrill showed the consequences of the crash, with flames and smoke emitting from the wreckage.

Merrill, 60, was driving home when he saw flames engulfing two cars as bystanders tried to care for survivors from a van on the side of the highway. Merrill Lyn said he often sees tourist vans on the highway leading to Yellowstone National Park.

"It's a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance to Yellowstone National Park," he said. "It's very busy."

Because of the remote location, Merrill Lynn said he anxiously awaited the help of the first responders.

"A air ambulance and additional air and ground resources were distributed due to the severity of the injury," police said. In a later update, state police said three occupants of the van were taken to Bozeman, Montana, and two other occupants were to Idaho Falls, Idaho. Others were taken to local hospitals and considered inanimate.

Authorities have not yet stated the cause of the crash of U.S. Highway 20, which is still under investigation.

"The Dodge Ram heads west (going south on the map) while Mercedes Van heads east (going north on the map) to Yellowstone National Park," state police said.

Police said Highway 20 has been completely closed and emergency personnel have investigated the incident. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said on social media that the highway reopened.

"Due to the complexity of the incident, it will take time to identify all involved persons and to the next notification of relatives. The ISP will continue to provide verified information on behalf of the Fremont County Coroner's Office."

The crash occurred less than a year when six people were killed when a pickup truck crashed into a passenger bus on the same highway in Idaho.