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Three young girls The three best friends loved Britney Spears almost as much as each other. As the girls walked home from school talking story, they never knew what hit them from behind.
never knew
what hit them
Police suggest the tragedy,
which killed one and injured
two, could have been avoidedBy Lori Tighe
and Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-BulletinNow, Nancy Phongsavath, 12, is dead, and the other two girls -- sisters Switzer, 12, and Hilovelyn Luab, 10 -- remain in critical condition at Queen's Medical Center.
Floral tributes and a stuffed doll could be found today at the scene of the accident.
Nancy and Switzer were seventh-graders at Dole Middle School, and Hilovelyn attended Kaewai Elementary School.Nancy and Switzer were believed to have been walking home after picking up Hilovelyn at Kaewai as they had done every day since school started earlier this month.
Kaewai Elementary Principal Dale Spaulding described Hilovelyn, a fifth-grader, as "a sweet little girl."
Outside counselors were at the school this morning to help students cope with the tragedy. Similar help was offered to Dole students.
Yesterday, counselors and support teams went to each class to talk to students, Spaulding said. "We also started collecting donations for the family.
"Some of the children were crying."
At Dole, Principal Evangeline Inoue and other school officials spent part of the morning visiting with the families of the girls.
This morning, Inoue addressed Dole's students on the school's public address system. She also advised teachers to observe the behavior of the children, instructing them to refer anyone needing help to counselors.
According to school records, Nancy and Switzer "were very quiet, but they were not problem students," Inoue said. "They seemed to be very close and also lived close to each other."
Police suggest the tragedy could have been avoided.
The 23-year-old driver of an AMV Air Conditioning company van appeared to have been distracted "doing what many other drivers do on a daily basis," when he lost control of his van and struck the girls at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"He was unlucky. I feel bad for him. I feel really bad for the families of the victims," said Sgt. David Talon, supervising the investigation.
Police declined to comment because of possible pending criminal charges on what the driver did seconds before he ran the girls down on the side of Kamehameha IV Road near Kalihi Housing, where they lived.
The van was in good mechanical condition after being checked by police yesterday.
The driver and his 8-year-old daughter, riding with him in the van, were unharmed. Both wore seat belts, police said.
Although extremely distraught at the scene, the driver cooperated with the investigation. Police classified the case as a possible negligent homicide, Talon said.
Aldrin Villahermosa, who owns AMV Air Conditioning, issued a written statement to the victims' families: "I would like to express our deepest heartfelt sympathy to the families involved in yesterday's automobile accident. All of us at AMV have dedicated special prayers and thoughts to all victims and their families."
After losing control of his van, the driver swerved off Kamehameha IV Road, sideswiped a parked car, ran onto the sidewalk, hit the three girls, then plowed into a chain-link fence and hedge. He eventually landed in the garage of a Kalihi home.
"It was like loud thunder," said Sophorn Vong, 17, a close friend of the Phongsavath family, who said the accident happened in front of his house. The teen said he considered Nancy a quiet, sweet girl "who never did anything wrong."
"She woke up early that day. She was eager to go to school. School time was her time; she enjoyed it. She was a good student. Her idol was Britney Spears," Vong said.
Family feelings swayed from anger to disbelief to mourning.
"I've never seen them like this," Vong said. "The dad's heart is broken. He is blaming the world. Why are the good people always the ones to go?"
Nancy's sister, Annie, 15, described her as "an innocent."
"She was a regular person. She loved music," she said. "We had eight in our family, and now we have seven."