Nikolao Michael cannot accept that his father was killed by a runaway tank carrying pavement sealer Friday in Kahaluu.

"It didn’t really hit me because I’m not there to hold my dad, see my dad face to face," he said Saturday by phone from his home in Anchorage, Alaska. "I still think my dad is still alive. I’m still waiting for his call to say, ‘That tank and telephone pole can’t kill me!’"

Michael, 26, said he will arrive Monday on Oahu

to see his father and visit the crash site.

"I’m just hoping my dad would wake up from the mess that he’s in right now," he said. "It’s devastating."

Michael’s father, Perenise Michael, was killed when his pickup was hit by a 3,500-gallon metal cargo tank that became disconnected from the truck that was pulling it on Kamehameha Highway near Waiahole Homestead Road. Police said the tank slid across the centerline and into an SUV and a pickup. Four people in the SUV escaped injury.

The tank ended up on its side, wedged against a toppled power line and Michael’s white pickup. It spilled a black tarlike substance onto the roadway.

Emergency responders couldn’t immediately reach Michael, 47, because of live electrical wires, and he died at the scene.

Police said the tank was carrying a liquid product called SealMaster, which had to be sucked off the roadway. That closed the road for about seven hours, halting traffic on the only route through the area.

Police said it was unknown whether excessive speed was a factor.

Nikolao Michael, who grew up in the area and attended Castle High School, recalled seeing his father two months ago when his

father visited Alaska to celebrate the birth of his granddaughter. He described him as a down-to-earth man who owned a small tow truck company.

"He was just really loving, caring to everybody that he sees and meets," he said. "He was just a loving father."

Nora Eliapo, whose father is Perenise Michael’s cousin, said Michael came to Hawaii from American Samoa around 1985.

Eliapo, also of Anchorage, said Michael was happy-go-lucky and family-oriented.

"He always gave encouraging words," she said. "He likes to help people."

When Michael’s four grown children moved to Alaska with their mother, he stayed in Hawaii to take care of his mother. He lived in Kahaluu with his wife, Tala, and 9-year-old daughter, Grace.

"I’m heartbroken," Eliapo said. "He’ll be dearly missed."

In addition to his son Nikolau, Michael’s survivors include his brother Scott of New York; son Nu’u; daughters Glory and Gloria; stepsons Dallas, Tounui and Travis Emosi; and 11 grandchildren.