CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A police officer spoke with a garbage truck driver yesterday after an accident on Liliuokalani Avenue. The truck clipped a tree, and a city worker who had been standing on the rear of the truck was injured and taken to Straub Clinic & Hospital, where he was later released.
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Wayward branch injures city worker
A city worker suffered minor injuries yesterday morning after being knocked off of a garbage truck when the driver struck a tree branch.
The accident occurred in Waikiki where Liliuokalani Avenue and Mountain View Drive meet.
Five private contractors were replacing a waterline for the Honolulu Board of Water Supply on the other side of the street when the accident occurred. Part of the street was coned off to facilitate construction work, forcing vehicles to maneuver through the one-way street.
"The garbage truck was just driving through, and the tree is low -- yeah, was low -- and I guess he never seen it and he hit it," said Kaimana Nakoa, who works for Ideal Construction Inc.
Witnesses removed the "lightweight" branch from the man as he lay on the ground. Nakoa and his co-workers disposed of the branch later in the garbage compactor on the truck.
"As soon as I ran over there, I asked him if he was all right, and he said, 'Yeah,'" said Nakoa.
When the branch broke, the second employee also standing on the rear of the truck jumped off to safety, said Markus Owens, spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Services. The victim, described by onlookers as a "middle-aged man," was transported in stable condition by Emergency Medical Services to Straub Clinic & Hospital. He was later released.