SUV with 5 inside plunges into acidic thermal geyser at national park

The thermal features of Yellowstone National Park have once again resulted in visitors getting injured – though this time, it doesn't seem as if entering one of the hot pools was intentional.

According to the National Park Service, a vehicle with five occupants inadvertently drove off of the road and into the Semi-Centennial Geyser last Thursday at 10:40 a.m. The vehicle became fully submerged in about nine feet of hot and acidic water.

All five of the occupants were able to exit the vehicle on their own, with each person transported via ambulance to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The people in the vehicle seem to have lucked out in that they landed in the Semi-Centennial Geyser, which is found near Roaring Mountain and between Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Junction, and not one of the many springs where temperature hit higher than 175 degrees. Semi-Centennial Geyser has a surface temperature of about 105.

Both lanes of the road were closed the following day to extract the vehicle. After a two hour closure, the road reopened.

The situation remains under investigation.

Yellowstone National Park is home to more than 10,000 hydrothermal features, including hot springs, geysers, mudpots, travertine terraces, and fumaroles. Many of these features get extremely hot – some pools reach near-boiling – and can be acidic enough to burn a hole in clothing . More than 20 people have been killed by the park's geothermal features.

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