A 77-year-old Kona woman was killed Thursday when the car she was driving struck two other cars, hit a stop sign, overturned and caught fire in Kailua-Kona.

Paramedics took the woman driver, whose identity was not released, to the Kona Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7:09 p.m. 

Kona patrol officers said the victim was driving a 2011 Hyundai multi-purpose vehicle and traveling south on Route 190 at 2:58 p.m. when she rear-ended a 2006 Toyota four-door sedan, driven by a 34-year-old Waikoloa man, at the intersection of Route 190 and Hinalani Street in Kailua-Kona.

Police said the Hyundai continued south and sideswiped a north-bound 1999 Jeep multi-purpose vehicle driven by a 42-year-old woman from Kailua-Kona.

Debris from the crash also damaged a 1998 Mazda pick-up truck driven by a 51-year-old Kailua-Kona man.

The Hyundai struck a stop sign at the intersection of Route 190 and Route 180, ran off the left side of the road, struck an embankment and overturned in the parking lot of an old nursery, police said. The Hyundai then caught on fire and the driver was burned in the vehicle.

The drivers of the other vehicles were not injured.

Anyone with information on the accident is asked to call Larry Flowers at 326-4646, extension 229.

Police are investigating whether the woman suffered from a medical condition prior to the crash. An autopsy will be conducted to determine her cause of death.

This is the 12th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with eight at this time last year.