|
4 injured after car
hits tree, flips over
Four young men are in serious or critical condition following a one-car wreck on Kamehameha Highway near Kahuku yesterday morning.
Speed and alcohol were factors in the 11:10 a.m. crash of a 2002 Ford Mustang, said Hono-lulu police Sgt. Lorenzo Ridela.
The car, driven by a man in his 20s, was "traveling east at a high rate of speed, about three-tenths of a mile east of Kawela Bay, when it attempted to maneuver a left-hand bend in the roadway ... oversteered, traveled to the left shoulder, collided with a tree and flipped over," Ridela said.
The driver was thrown from the car and two of three passengers were pinned in the car. The passengers were all in their 20s and none appeared to be wearing seat belts, Ridela said. The driver and one passenger are in critical condition. The other two passengers are in serious condition.
Paea Mapu, the sister of victim Taniela Mapu, 21, of Kahuku, said one of the passengers in the accident told others that "they were speeding. They was not racing."
Mapu said her brother was a passenger and was pinned under the overturned car. She said he is one of two victims in the intensive-care unit at the Queen's Medical Center.
A U.S. Army paramedic prepared four crash victims for helicopter transport to the Queen's Medical Center.
Nai Finau, who arrived at the scene after the accident, identified one victim as his brother, Viliami Finau, 24, of Laie.
The victims were taken by ambulance to Kahuku Hospital, then flown to Queen's.
Shortly after the accident, the Kamehameha Highway was closed in both directions and was not completely reopened until 6:18 p.m.
