In another fatal accident, two people were killed last night on the Big Island in a four-car collision in Puna near the Kamehameha Schools campus. Heavy rainfall appears to be a contributing factor, police said.

A 25-year-old Wai'anae man was pronounced dead at the scene of the 1:48 a.m. Farrington Highway collision, which involved a 1992 Honda Civic and 1989 Jeep Cherokee.

A Wai'anae girl, 16, who was a front-seat passenger in the Honda, and the 20-year-old woman driver of the Cherokee were taken by helicopter to The Queen’s Medical Center. Both were in serious condition. A man, 20, a passenger in the Cherokee, was taken to St. Francis Medical Center-West in good condition.

Vehicular homicide investigator Sgt. William Balwin said a witness told police the Honda, which was headed toward Yokohama Bay, may have been racing with another vehicle. The Honda was on the wrong side of the road when the driver tried to avoid being struck by the oncoming Cherokee.

The Cherokee, however, hit the Honda on the front left side of the car, forcing it to the shoulder of the road. The driver of the Honda was killed even though the car’s airbag deployed.

Today’s death raises O'ahu’s traffic fatality count for the year to 52. It was 41 at this time last year.

In the Puna crash, police say a 1999 Mazda pickup truck traveling north crossed the center lane at 6:24 p.m. and collided with a 1993 Subaru headed in the opposite direction. The Mazda continued on and collided with a 1994 Nissan sedan. Debris from the bed of the Mazda pickup caused damage to a Toyota pickup truck.

Conchita Tenorio, 36, and Loreto Tenorio Jr., 33, of Kurtistown, who were in the Subaru, were pronounced dead at the scene. A man, 24, a backseat passenger in the Subaru, was taken to Hilo Medical Center in serious condition.

The driver of the Mazda pickup, a 51-year-old woman, was also taken to Hilo Hospital in serious condition.