Idaho bus filled with teen campers crashes on winding highway, injuring 11

BOISE, Idaho — A school bus carrying teenage campers rolled over on a winding Idaho highway Friday afternoon, injuring 11 people, the Idaho State Police said.

Seven of those hurt had critical injuries and four had non-critical injuries, according to an ISP news release. The Boise County Coroner’s office had not received any reports of fatalities as of 5:45 p.m., coroner’s investigator Noah Webster said.

The bus was carrying about 30 campers and staff back to Boise from the Treasure Valley YMCA’s camp at Horsethief Reservoir. All of the teens on the bus were between 13 and 18 years old, according to ISP. They were all taken to area hospitals to be checked out, the ISP said.

The Valley County Sheriff’s Office said they were notified of the crash about 3 p.m., and several law enforcement and emergency medical agencies responded.

Treasure Valley YMCA Director David Duro he wasn’t immediately able to comment on the crash.

“We are in the middle of managing parents and children, so I don’t have an update for you at this time,” Duro said.

The YMCA camp where children can engage in canoeing, archery, zip-lining and other outdoor activities is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of the crash site. The popular camp runs multiple sessions throughout the summer for kids between 2nd and 11th grades, and the YMCA frequently runs several buses full of kids to and from each session.

The crash blocked both lanes of Highway 55. The two-lane road is one of the state’s two major north-south routes, and it is frequently packed with weekend travelers headed from the Boise region to the vacation destination of McCall and popular area campsites.