LIHU‘E — Tomas Barrientos, 61, of Lihu‘e, died from injuries sustained in a one-vehicle crash late Sunday night along Kaumuali‘i Highway, county officials said. The crash happened near the Kaua‘i Humane Society west of Puhi, closing the eastbound lane of
LIHU‘E — Tomas Barrientos, 61, of Lihu‘e, died from injuries sustained in a one-vehicle crash late Sunday night along Kaumuali‘i Highway, county officials said.
The crash happened near the Kaua‘i Humane Society west of Puhi, closing the eastbound lane of the highway for nearly three hours, a news release states.
Barrientos was traveling eastbound in a Ford pickup truck at around 10:25 p.m. when his truck hit a guard rail, apparently went airborne, flipped over, and ended up upside down in a drainage ditch, according to a preliminary report.
He died at the scene, county spokeswoman Mary Daubert said in an e-mail Monday afternoon.
He is the seventh person to die on Kaua‘i roads this year.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Through the first eight months of 2009, there were six traffic deaths on Kaua‘i roads, compared to 10 last year and seven in 2007 during the same eight-month period.
