Posted at 10:13 a.m., Thursday, August 9, 2001

Woman killed, 3 injured in second Pearl City crash

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

One woman was killed and three injured last night after a van struck a utility pole near Sam's Club, where another accident claimed the life of two others on Saturday. Randy Dela Cruz • Special to The Advertiser

A 50-year-old woman died and three people were injured last night when a van they were riding hit a utility pole in Pearl City near Sam's Club.

It was the second fatal crash in the same area since Saturday, when a speeding sport utility car crashed, killing the driver and passenger.

According to police, last night's collision happened at 6:10 p.m. on Kamehameha Highway near Acacia Road when the westbound van tried to merge into a lane occupied by a city bus.

The van struck the bus and then crashed into the utility pole. The 50-year-old woman, who was riding in the right rear passenger seat, was taken to Kapi'olani Medical Center at Pali Momi in critical condition and later died.

The other three occupants of the van, a 56-year-old woman, a 23-year-old woman and the driver, a 19-year-old man, were taken to Queen's Medical Center. The 56-year-old woman was in fair condition today. The 23-year-old woman and 19-year-old man were last reported in serious condition and no information was available today, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

No one was injured on the bus. Police said they believed the van's occupants wore seatbelts and that the van's driver was not speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol.

On Saturday, Al Jimmy Mehau Bray, 29, of Pearl City, and Merliza Vitolo, 33, of 'Ewa Beach, were killed when their sport utility vehicle crashed in the same area .

At about 1 a.m. Saturday, Bray's sport utility vehicle was speeding through stoplights along a wet portion of Kamehameha Highway when it struck a Ford Mustang in the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Acacia Road, police said.

Bray and Vitolo were killed after the vehicle went airborne, severed a utility pole and damaged a building under construction in Pearl City.