Police traffic investigators said a 2000 Ford Explorer driven by a 20-year-old Honolulu woman crashed head on into a 1996 Nissan Sentry driven by a 40-year-old Kalihi woman and burst into flames about 2:54 a.m.

They said it appears the Explorer was head the wrong way — heading east in the west-bound lanes of the freeway — when the collision occurred about two-tenths of a mile east of the freeway off-ramp that leads to the Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center. Investigators believe the Explorer driver may have entered the freeway heading in the wrong direction via the Kaiser off-ramp.

They said it appeared that the Explorer driver tried to swerve to the left just prior to the accident and that the Nissan driver attempt to swerve to the right at precisely the same instant, resulting in the head-on collision.

Firefighters said the Explorer was fully engulfed in flames by the time they arrived at the scene. Police said both vehicles came to rest near the center barrier and that both women were declared dead at the scene as a result of massive injuries they sustained in the wreck.