Submitted by Fox First at Ten on July 1st
By THOMAS PEIPERTAssociated Press
Authorities have released the names of three Boy Scouts and their Scout leader who were killed in a head-on collision while driving back to Colorado from a camp in Wyoming.
Five people died when a vehicle returning to Colorado from a Boy Scout camp in Wyoming slammed into a motor home, authorities said Sunday.
Among the victims were three Scouts and their adult troop leader, all from Woodland Park, Colo., a town ravaged in recent weeks by wildfires, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported. A 3-year-old passenger in the motor home also died, the Wyoming Highway Patrol said.
The Woodland Park School District says 16-year-old Paul Kekich, 17-year-old Nick Naples, and 17-year-old Alex Ragan died in Saturday's crash, according to the newspaper. The boys were students at Woodland Park High School.
Their leader, Richard Kleiner, also died.
Four others were injured in the crash on Highway 120 near Thermopolis in north-central Wyoming. Their conditions were not immediately known.
The Boy Scouts were traveling in a Honda Element, which was one of three vehicles taking a group of Scouts back to the Colorado Springs area. The two other vehicles transporting the Scouts were not involved in the crash.
The newspaper also reported Sunday that the local Boy Scouts council released a statement saying "yesterday was an extremely difficult day for the entire Scouting family."
Hot Springs County Sheriff Lou Falgoust told The Billings (Mont.) Gazette the troop members were working toward their Eagle Scout badges and had been camping around an area known as Pahaska Teepee, near Yellowstone National Park.
Investigators are still trying to determine why the Honda crossed the center line.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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