Neighbor Island briefs

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BIG ISLAND

Two critical after Big Island crash

A man and a woman were in critical condition at The Queen's Medical Center last night after a traffic accident early yesterday on the Big Island.

The woman, 23, was burned in the wreck. The man, 27, who had been traveling with her, was also critically injured and in the intensive care unit.

Big Island firefighters said they were called to Highway 130 near Shower Road in Kea'au at about 4 a.m. and discovered a sports utility vehicle off the side of the highway, overturned and engulfed in flames.

The man was lying on the road outside of the vehicle. While some of the firefighters attacked the fire, others helped the man, who said there had been another person with him. The fire was extinguished with 15 minutes, and the firefighters heard calls for help. They found the woman trapped beneath the vehicle with burns to her lower body and arm.

The firefighters stabilized the vehicle with air bags and used jaws of life to lift it, freeing the woman.

The man and woman were taken to Hilo Medical Center and later flown to Queen's.