A 22-year-old Big Island man died yesterday from injuries he sustained after the car he was driving hit a bull on Route 11, collided with a tractor-trailer and flipped over in Kau.

Police said the victim was James P.K. Akau of an Ocean View address.

The accident occurred at 5:27 a.m. on Route 11 about a fifth of a mile north of the 57-mile marker in the Pahala area.

Akau was driving north in a 2006 Kia four-door sedan when he struck the bull on the roadway. Akau's vehicle then sideswiped a 1997 Peterbilt tractor-trailer traveling south and overturned.

Two passengers in the Kia, a 40-year-old woman and her 9-year-old daughter, were transported to Kau Hospital. They both had been wearing their seat belts. Akau was not wearing a seat belt, police said.

The girl was treated and released and her mother was transferred to Kona Community Hospital for further treatment.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 41-year-old Ninole man, was not injured. He also was wearing his seat belt.

The bull was critically hurt and had to be destroyed by its owner, said Chris Loos, police spokeswoman.

The highway was closed for several hours because of the accident.

This is the 10th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with five at this time last year.