IDAHO FALLS — Two Idaho Cleanup Project employees were injured early Thursday morning, about 6 a.m., when their vehicle struck a deer crossing Highway 20 west of Idaho Falls near the Idaho National Laboratory, according to Idaho State Police.

    Lori Lopez, 49, and Jessica Bertram, 27, were seriously injured Thursday about 6 a.m., when the automobile Lopez was driving attempted to avoid a deer on the highway and hit the animal. An INL bus then collided with the vehicle driven by Lopez and the car rolled onto its top.

    Bertram was transported by Idaho Air Rescue helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, where she remains in critical care in the intensive care unit. Lopez was transported to EIRMC by ambulance and remains in the hospital’s intensive care in serious condition following extensive surgery.

    Several of the 35 bus passengers were taken to the site’s Central Facilities Area medical facility for evaluation and were released. Lopez and Bertram both work at the Materials and Fuels Complex at the INL and do decontamination and demolition work.

    According to Idaho State Police, the accident remains under investigation.