A cement truck carrying a full load rolled off the road and onto a minivan with five passengers near Tower Junction in late August.

The five unidentified occupants of the minivan were extricated and moved to safety. At the same time, crews removed parts of the cement truck. However, due to the cement inside, the drum of the truck had to remain on scene until special equipment could arrive to assist with removal. 

Yellowstone officials closed the road from Tower Junction to Mammoth to both lanes of traffic at 11 p.m. Monday and it was expected to be reopened early this morning (Tuesday). Both lanes were closed while crews extricated the final part of a cement truck to “ensure visitor safety,” park officials said in a press release.

The delay in removing the part was due to the time it took to get the right equipment to move the drum filled with thousands of pounds of dried cement into the park. 

Park Superintendent Cam Sholly addressed the accident, saying the truck was coming around a corner fully loaded but two cars had stopped in the road to watch wildlife and he couldn’t stop in time.

“He tried to drive between the two stopped vehicles but couldn’t make it and took the minivan with him,” Sholly said.

The minivan was under the cement truck off the road, but all five of the occupants were extricated with only minor injuries.

“Super lucky,” Sholly wrote on the Mammoth/Gardiner Community Message Board.