Three die in head-on collision in North Kona

By Rod Ohira and Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writers

Three people were killed in a head-on collision Monday night on the Big Island's Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway, about a mile north of the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in North Kona.

And yesterday, a woman died in a collision on Kaua'i.

Five people have died on Big Island roadways since Saturday.

"It was ugly," said Traffic Enforcement Section Sgt. Leroy Victorino of Monday's Big Island wreck. "The vehicles were unrecognizable."

A Ford Mustang, driven by Toru Kanda, 31, of Japan, appeared to be speeding when it veered into the path of an oncoming Toyota pickup truck at 9:15 p.m., Victorino said.

Kanda was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital; his 32-year-old wife, Noriko Kanda, is in good condition, Victorino said.

Two Big Island men in the pickup truck were pronounced dead at 12:40 a.m. yesterday at Kona Community Hospital. They were identified by police as Frank Crumm, 53, of Holualoa, and Christen Wright-Hill, 39, of Kailua.

In the Kaua'i accident, a 72-year-old Indiana woman was killed in a three-car collision.

She was riding in a Honda driven by a 47-year-old Koloa man who was attempting to make a left turn from Kuhio Highway into the Wailua Golf Course, police said. Police said the car was struck by another car that was heading in the opposite direction at about 1:45 p.m.

The woman was thrown from the car and then struck by a third car.

The death was the fifth on Kaua'i this year; five people died in traffic accidents on Kaua'i all of last year. Kaua'i's traffic fatality toll in 2002 was four.

Police said three people injured in the accident were in stable condition at Wilcox Memorial Hospital yesterday.

The head-on collision on the Big Island was the state's second multiple-death accident in four days. Four people were killed Friday on O'ahu when two cars slammed into a Safety Systems flat-bed truck on the H-1 Freeway.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8181. Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.