comscore Man, 19, identified as third fatality in Kapolei crash | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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Man, 19, identified as third fatality in Kapolei crash

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  • BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

    What remains of a Nissan 350Z involved in a Monday night crash in Kapolei sits at All Island Automotive Towing at Campbell Industrial Park, with its back end stacked on its front and passenger compartment Tuesday. Bryan Barahura, a technician at the tow company, looks over the damage to the car.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office identified the third person killed in Monday’s Kapolei car crash as 19-year-old Yohei Tanaka, of Kapolei.

The two other occupants were earlier identified as Takumi Yamamoto, 19, and Norihito Shigeta, 20.

The medical examiner said all three died of “multiple blunt force injuries” and determined the cause of death as an accident.

The crash happened on Farrington Highway between Noulu Street and Kowelo Avenue, less than two miles away from Hawaii Tokai International College. All three men were students from Japan enrolled at Hawaii Tokai International College.

At about 11:15 p.m. Monday, a Nissan Coupe 350Z was traveling townbound on the highway at a high-rate of speed when the vehicle lost control, traveled onto a sidewalk and slammed into a tree.

All three men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said speed was a factor in the crash.

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  • There were posters back when this accident first happened, who thought the passengers could NEVER have been responsible for behaving recklessly. Well, cramming three people into a two-seat car is reckless in and of itself, and may have contributed to the crash. In case it’s not obvious, passengers DO have a say in what car they get into and what driver they ride with. It’s sad three people died, but would have been even sadder if they had killed some innocent person/people on the sidewalk or in another car.

    • Not sure if your posts will get deleted but all my posts about this crash, the crash where the guy was posting on facebook live, and the crash where a Mustang driver died after he crossed the center line were deleted. Guess there’s selective censorship at the SA since I rarely see posts critical of those accused of certain other crimes such as murder and sexual assault ever censored. Guess we’re all supposed to believe incidents like this are purely “accidents”, just like how someone trips on a sidewalk.

      • Morimoto, I saw that. I was lucky enough to read it while it was still up, then replied basically agreeing. When I went back to check for new posts, both our comments had been deleted. I actually haven’t seen posts deleted for a while, so maybe there’s a “new sheriff” in town.

        • My post just got deleted the other day. It’s not that I’m trying to be insensitive but the reality is that it’s better for the person causing the problem to die rather than an innocent person just going about their daily lives.

  • Pretty sad. Kids this young should never lose their lives like this. Just three kids from Japan coming to our state to study and have fun. I feel really bad for their parents.

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