Speeding blamed in crash that kills three on Likelike
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
KANE'OHE — A speeding Chevy Blazer struck a wall and crashed inside the Wilson Tunnel yesterday afternoon, killing three people and seriously injuring three others.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The crash happened at the right curve as Likelike Highway enters the Honolulu-bound tunnel. White paint scarred a wall before the tunnel, marking where the SUV lost control and slammed into the wall.
The sport utility vehicle involved in yesterday's fatal accident in the Wilson Tunnel is towed from the scene. No other vehicles were involved.
Kenneth Smythe was driving on Likelike when "I saw this white SUV bypass me, and it looked like he was going 70 to 80 mph and he was changing lanes."
Smythe said he had a bad feeling.
"I said, 'Oh, no,' especially around the turn coming into the tunnel. He might miss the turn, and surely enough, he did," Smythe said.
All three victims died at the scene of the 3:15 p.m. accident. Two of the dead were women and the third appeared to be a teenage boy, who was thrown from the vehicle, said police vehicular homicide investigator Sgt. Alan Vegas.
The Honolulu-bound lanes of Likelike Highway were closed for more than five hours, reopening at 8:25 p.m. after investigators finished their work and the wreck was towed away.
An Emergency Medical Services spokesman said the two dead women appeared to be in their 20s. He said they also appeared to be passengers in the back seat of the SUV.
The three survivors, one man and two women, were pinned inside the Blazer and had to be removed by Fire Department personnel. Vegas said the man, who was the SUV driver, was taken to The Queen's Medical Center. He was in serious condition last night. One of the women was in critical condition and the other in guarded condition.
Vegas said the Blazer was speeding as it approached the tunnel and the driver lost control of the vehicle.
He said the Blazer slammed into the left wall at the tunnel entrance and may have flipped over, flattening the vehicle's roof, before landing upright more than 20 feet inside the tunnel.
Smythe said he saw the body of the young male victim lying on the road. Vegas said no other vehicles were involved in the incident.
"There were cars behind this particular vehicle, but the traffic level at that time going in the town-bound direction was relatively light," Vegas said. He asked motorists to "please drive carefully, especially during the rush-hour when there are a lot of people on the road that can be affected."
It was the worst traffic accident on O'ahu since four people were killed in a crash on the H-1 Freeway near Pearl City on Feb. 13. A March 24 crash on the Big Island killed four people when their car hit a tour bus in Puna.
Also on the Windward side last night, five people were injured — two critically — in a collision on Kamehameha Highway fronting Ka'a'awa Elementary School.
The accident involved a Nissan pickup truck that was struck by a tractor-trailer shortly after 9 p.m. Two men were thrown from the bed of the pickup and were taken by Army medevac helicopter to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. Three men in the truck's cab suffered minor injuries and were taken to Castle Medical Center, the EMS said. No one in the tractor-trailer was seriously injured.
Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8025.
