Members of the ‘ohana at Plantation Gardens Restaurant in Poi‘pu have been devastated the past few days, as the single-car accident early Saturday morning on Poi‘pu Road has taken two fellow employee’s lives. Officials confirmed yesterday that the 17-year-old driving
Members of the ‘ohana at Plantation Gardens Restaurant in Poi‘pu have been devastated the past few days, as the single-car accident early Saturday morning on Poi‘pu Road has taken two fellow employee’s lives.
Officials confirmed yesterday that the 17-year-old driving a Honda sedan that crashed into a tree on Poi‘pu Road early Saturday morning died as a result of her injuries, the second death in the accident.
The female driver, who was from Kekaha, died Sunday, said Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county public information officer. Her name could not be released, she added, because she was a minor.
One of the passengers in the car, Tyson Pagador, 22, of Koloa, died Saturday. There will be a memorial service held for him at 8 a.m. Saturday at St. Raphael’s Church in Koloa.
The other passenger, 22, remains in critical condition at Queen’s Medical Center on Oah‘u. Ozaki said his name could not be released because his entire family could not be notified.
All three were employees of Plantation Gardens Restaurant in Poi‘pu.
‘‘We are like family,” said Rocky Reynolds, General Manager, of the 40 employees of the restaurant. ‘‘We are trying to hang in there. We are doing the best we can.”
He added that a person from Kaua‘i Hospice was coming in yesterday to provide some support for the grieving personnel.
‘‘I want professional people here” to help with the grieving process, said Reynolds.
‘‘We closed the restaurant Saturday and Sunday night out of respect,” he said. ‘‘I thought it would be wise that they all could be with their families.”
All three had been at work on Friday night, he said.
Later that night, at 12:40 a.m. Saturday morning, the three were traveling eastbound in a 1995 four-door Honda sedan on Po‘ipu Road when the car apparently crossed the center line and hit a tree.
The three were transported to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, but only one was deemed stable enough to be transferred via air ambulance to the trauma center at Queen’s.
‘‘He’s awake,” said Reynolds of the 22-year-old victim from Poi‘pu.
The 21-year-old and the 19-year-old are the second and third traffic fatalities on Kaua‘i this year.
There were five traffic fatalities all of last year and four in 2002.
