StarBulletin.com

2 men killed as accidents make for a deadly Sunday


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POSTED: Monday, May 18, 2009

Yesterday was a deadly day on Oahu as two men died and several others were hurt in four separate accidents.

;[Preview]  Tractor Trailer Fatal Crash
 

A man is dead and a teenager is in serious condition, after a tractor trailer flipped over on the west bound Ewa off ramp.

Watch  ]

 

Two of the crashes happened within several miles of each other on Kamehameha Highway in Windward Oahu, while the other two occurred within a mile of each other in Kunia.

Just before noon a tractor-trailer truck went out of control on the Ewa offramp from the Waianae-bound lanes of the H-1 freeway and overturned. The driver of the truck, a 51-year-old Waipahu man, was pronounced dead at the scene at about 12:30 p.m., said Emergency Services Department spokesman Bryan Cheplic. A 12-year-old boy who was a passenger in the truck was taken to a hospital in serious condition, Cheplic said. The man was not wearing a seat belt, but the boy was.

Honolulu police Lt. Daniel Ford said witnesses saw the truck swerving back and forth before it turned off the H-1.

Firefighters got the boy out of the truck by lifting the cab with jacks.

The truck belonged to A's Trucking and Equipment. A company spokesman who declined to give his name identified the driver as Ralpho Fox and said only, “;We're in mourning.”;

The Ewa offramp was closed until 6:40 p.m.

               

     

 

ALCOHOL SUSPECTED IN KAUAI CRASH

        Kauai police believe alcohol was a factor in a single-vehicle crash that injured four teenagers Saturday night, according to a news release from Kauai County.
       

An unlicensed 15-year-old boy was driving a Jeep Cherokee northbound on Leho Drive near the Aloha Beach Resort in Kapaa at about 1:50 a.m. when he lost control and hit a coconut tree, the release said.

       

All four victims are 15. They were taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Three of the victims were treated and released, the county said, but one girl was flown to the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu for treatment. The girl's condition and further details of the crash were unavailable.

       

Star-Bulletin staff

       

 

       

At about 12:50 p.m. a 49-year-old man was headed toward Kaneohe on Kamehameha Highway in Kaaawa on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle when the driver of a 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup truck headed in the opposite direction turned in front of him, police said. The motorcycle hit the left front side of the truck. The motorcyclist and his passenger, a 10-year-old girl, were ejected from the motorcycle and landed in the road, police said.

The motorcyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered critical injuries, including the amputation of his left leg, police said. He was taken to Castle Medical Center where he died.

The girl, who was wearing a helmet, was also taken to Castle in serious condition, police said. The driver of the truck, a 40-year-old man, was not hurt. Police said the truck driver was turning left into the Kaaawa 7-Eleven.

At about 10:30 yesterday morning, police said, a 39-year-old homeless man was riding a bicycle in the Kahuku-bound shoulder of Kamehameha Highway near Kukuna Road in Hauula when he veered into oncoming traffic and was hit by a sedan driven by a 20-year-old man.

The cyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition with head and body injuries, police said. He was identified by a friend as Patrick Fernandez.

At about 7:30 last night three pedestrians were hit by a vehicle behind the Kunia Wal-Mart at 94-595 Kupuohi St. The victims were taken to Queen's in serious condition. Details of the accident were unavailable.

Star-Bulletin reporter Gary T. Kubota contributed to this story.