NANAKULI — The driver of a stolen pickup truck was killed and his passenger hospitalized in serious condition following a spectacular crash on Hakimo Road yesterday morning that shattered the rural Nanakuli silence.

Residents said they heard a revving vehicle engine followed by what sounded like explosions.

"I thought it was one bomb," said Joseph Torres, 52, who lives on Kanahale Road, which intersects with Hakimo. "I was cooking breakfast, and I heard one explosion. It shook me."

According to authorities and witnesses at the scene, the incident began shortly after 7 a.m. when the owner of the stolen 1995 red Nissan pickup passed his truck going in the opposite direction on Hakimo Road, and made a U-turn in order to follow it.

That's apparently when the driver of the Nissan tromped on the gas pedal, said police Lt. Darren Izumo, with the Honolulu Police Department's vehicular homicide division.

Izumo said the driver of the stolen Nissan — ocean-bound on Hakimo Road at a high rate of speed — lost control, mowed down a fire hydrant near the intersection of Hakimo and Kanahale roads, struck a utility pole guy-wire, plowed into a rock wall and chain-link fence, went airborne, and spun 360 degrees in mid-air before crash-landing to a halt on Hakimo Road, 32 feet northeast of Kanahale Road.

Police said the 21-year-old man driving the pickup was taken to Hawai'i Medical Center West in Waipahu in critical condition, and he later died. The 41-year male passenger was taken to the same hospital in critical condition, which was later upgraded to serious, they said.

The hydrant was thrown nearly 60 feet, and part of its flange base landed 90 feet from the point of impact. Water spouted through tree branches 40 feet in the air. Electricity, cable and water service was knocked out in homes along Hakimo and Kanahale roads.

The rock wall and chain link fence at the corner of the property at 87-409 Hakimo Road, where Gilbert Egami lives, were demolished.

Hakimo Road was closed in both directions for much of the morning while investigators sorted through the mess, and utility personnel worked to restore services.

But what bothered some residents most was the fact that the crash happened within minutes of the time the school bus arrives. They shuddered at the thought of a pickup crash-landing on Hakimo Road at a time when kids would be hurrying along the roadside to catch the bus.

"You see where that fire hydrant was taken out?" said John Joshua, 52, who lives at 87-448 Hakimo Road. "That's where the bus picks up the school kids. You would have a lot of little kids scattered all over this place. It would have turned this community upside down."

"It was just by minutes that something tragic might have happened," added Torres. "It would have been a disaster over here."

Residents complained that the straightaway along Hakimo Road has become "a drag strip," with speeding vehicles flying past night and day. A crash several weeks ago also knocked out power to area homes, they said. Some said they worry that their homes aren't safe.

Toa Ewa, 43, who lives on the west side of Hakimo, adjacent to where the truck ended up, said the pickup impacts were so loud he feared the truck might land in his front yard.

His wife, Stephenie, heard the "Boom! Boom! Boom!" as well, and immediately dashed out of the house and was one of the first people on the scene. She said the man in the passenger seat, who was obviously injured but still conscious, yelled for her to help the driver of the vehicle, who appeared to be unconscious.

She said the driver suddenly spoke, saying, "'I'm all right, I'm all right,'" and then attempted to get out of the vehicle.

"But he had an open fracture wound of his ankle," she said. "You could see the bone sticking out, and his foot was turned the wrong direction. He did have contusions to the head, broken teeth and a possible broken nose."

A number of area residents later expressed sadness after learning that the driver had died.

Police said it appeared that the driver was fleeing after being spotted by the Nissan's owner. Speed was an apparent factor, they said, although it has yet to be determined whether alcohol was involved.

Yesterday's fatality was O'ahu's ninth traffic death of the year, compared with six fatalities at the same time a year ago, police said.