Including last night, five people have died on Big Island roadways since Saturday as its traffic fatality count for the year rose to seven as compared to two at this time last year.

The statewide count into the first two months of 2004 stands at 25 — including 15 on O'ahu, two on Kaua'i and one on Maui.

Seventeen of the 25 deaths statewide, including nine on O'ahu and six on the Big Island, have occurred this month in a span of 12 days starting from Feb. 5.

"It was ugly," said Traffic Enforcement Section Sgt. Leroy Victorino, the Big Island’s lead investigator for traffic deaths, of last night’s head-on collision involving a 2003 Ford sedan and another vehicle. "The vehicles were unrecognizable."

The Ford sedan, driven by a 31-year-old man from Japan, appeared to be speeding when it veered into the path of a vehicle at about 9:15 p.m., said Victorino.

The car’s driver, who was identified by police as Toru Kanda, was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital. A 32-year-old woman passenger in the car is in good condition at Kona Hospital, said Victorino.

Two people in the other vehicle were pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital. Victorino declined to release information about them or a description of the vehicle until police are able to notify family members.

The head-on collision is the state’s second multiple-death accident in four days. Four people were killed last Friday on O'ahu when two cars, which may have been racing, slammed into a Safety Systems flat-bed truck on the H-1 Freeway doing prep work for the ZipMobile near the westbound Waipahu off-ramp.

Last night’s Big Island accident is the second on Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway in three days.

Thirty-year-old Keith Kelekolio was killed Saturday when his Ford van veered off the roadway and crashed at 7:25 a.m. On Sunday, 33-year-old Gregory Pluta was killed when he was struck by a police vehicle while walking on Ali'i Drive in Kailua, Kona.