Fatal wreck

The scene of Wednesday evening’s crash at Rio Vista and Reservation roads northwest of Chubbuck.

Four people died in a two-vehicle crash northwest of Chubbuck early Wednesday evening, the Bannock County Coroner’s Office reported.

The 6:40 p.m. wreck involved a potato truck and car at the intersection of Reservation and Rio Vista roads on the border of the Fort Hall Reservation.

It is believed the car was traveling east on Reservation Road when it collided with a Searle Farms potato truck driving north on Rio Vista Road, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes said in a news release issued Thursday.

The impact of the collision caused the car to catch fire and all four of the vehicle’s occupants died, authorities said.

The Bannock County Coroner’s Office on Thursday positively identified the four individuals who died in the wreck as Delight Moemberg, 44, Deborah Pabawena, 63, Philip Ponzo, 28 and Faedem Fidim, 37. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes said all four of the deceased people were Fort Hall residents.

The driver of the potato truck, Guadalupe Camargo-Rangel, was transported via ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash and believed to not be life-threatening, authorities said.

The intersection of Reservation and Rio Vista roads was closed for several hours because of the wreck, authorities said.

State police along with emergency personnel from Fort Hall, Chubbuck and Bannock County responded to the crash.

The accident remains under investigation by Fort Hall police and Idaho State Police.

“The Fort Hall Police Department would like to offer our deepest condolences to all the families involved in this tragic accident,” the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes news release said.

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