Four on Big Island killed when car hits minibus

By Christie Wilson and Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writers

Four Big Island residents were killed yesterday when their sedan collided with a tour minibus on rain-slicked Volcano Highway near Glenwood, Puna.

At least a dozen tourists suffered minor injuries.

The two men and two women were traveling north toward Hilo in a Toyota Matrix at 11:40 a.m. when the driver apparently lost control, sending the vehicle spinning across the two-lane highway, police said. It collided with a Green Travel & Tours 25-seat Ford minibus carrying 14 passengers.

One of the victims, a 22-year-old woman who was ejected from the sedan, was 8 months pregnant, paramedics said.

All four victims are believed to be South Kona residents.

Police said the bodies of one man and one woman, both 42 years old, had been identified yesterday afternoon, but their names were being withheld while police notified their family members.

Police had not positively identified the driver of the car, a man in his 20s, or the pregnant woman, Assistant Police Chief Charles Chai said. Severe weather delayed the arrival of family members who were en route to the hospital to meet with police last night.

At the time of the accident, the fog was thick and the pavement was wet, Chai said. The driver, according to witnesses, was speeding.

At least 12 of the tour bus passengers, all tourists from California and Taiwan, were taken to the Hilo Medical Center, where they were treated for minor injuries and released.

Because of the debris caused by the crash, about 8 miles north of the entrance to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, police closed the highway for about two hours.

It was raining heavily at the time of the collision, said Dien Nekoba, owner of Green Travel & Tours. She said the Toyota had just crested a hill when it apparently started sliding across the road. The tour bus driver had time to hit the brakes but was unable to avoid the head-on crash, Nekoba said.

An air bag saved the driver from serious injury, she said.

The tour bus had picked up passengers at the Hilo Airport for an all-day tour, and had taken them to Rainbow Falls and other points of interest before heading to the national park, she said.

Nekoba said she was shocked to hear about the crash and to learn that the dead were Big Island residents. "They should know better" and drive more carefully when it's raining, she said.

The deaths bring the number of traffic fatalities on the Big Island so far this year to 12, compared with three at this time last year.

Reach Neighbor Island editor Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880. Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.