LIHU‘E — A 32-year-old Kapa‘a man, the driver of a white Ford pickup truck, died Tuesday night in a two-car crash on Kaumuali‘i Highway near the entrance to Kahili Mountain Park and Maluhia (Tree Tunnel) Road, a revised county press
LIHU‘E — A 32-year-old Kapa‘a man, the driver of a white Ford pickup truck, died Tuesday night in a two-car crash on Kaumuali‘i Highway near the entrance to Kahili Mountain Park and Maluhia (Tree Tunnel) Road, a revised county press release said Wednesday afternoon.
A 27-year-old Kilauea man, who was a passenger in the Ford truck, is in fair condition at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, the release says.
A 31-year-old ‘Oma‘o man, the sole occupant of the other vehicle, a white GMC pickup truck, remained in serious condition at Wilcox Memorial Hospital as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the release and county Public Information Officer Mary Daubert.
Family and company sources have said that the two men in the Ford pickup truck are employees of R Electric, and were coming back to Lihu‘e from a job site at the time of the accident.
Robbie Rask, manager of R Electric and sister company Rasco Supply, said he could not comment on the accident.
The highway was closed for over five hours during investigation of the first fatal crash on Kaua‘i this year, the release states.
According to the preliminary Kaua‘i Police Department report, the ‘Oma‘o man was traveling west on Kaumuali‘i Highway at around 10:16 p.m. when he crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the eastbound Ford truck.
The highway was reopened around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.
There was no mention of alcohol, drugs or speed as factors in the accident as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Daubert said.
