Driver dies as 2 trucks collide on highway in South Kohala

One man died and another was injured in a three-vehicle crash shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday in South Kohala, Hawaii County firefighters said.

Fire Capt. Brent Matsuda said a man apparently lost control of his Ford F-350 pickup when a tire blew out.

The truck clipped the back of a vehicle in the opposite lane, then crashed into an oncoming Ford Ranger pickup shortly near the 82-mile marker on Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

Firefighters sent to the scene found the driver of the F-350 pickup walking around and took him to North Hawaii Community Hospital in serious condition, Matsuda said.

Firefighters had to cut the driver of the Ford Ranger from the truck. He died at the scene, Matsuda said. There were no passengers in either truck, he said.

The occupants of the first vehicle that was hit were shaken but unhurt, he said.

Police closed the highway just north of Kiholo Scenic Point for about four hours to investigate.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Pahoa man faces charges in burglary

Hawaii County police have charged a 20-year-old Pahoa man in connection with a burglary in Keaau last month.

Sepeti Alamti Tuaefe — also known as Joe Tuaefe — was arrested and charged Wednesday with first-degree burglary. His bail was set at $5,000.

At about 2 a.m. June 27, police responded to a report that several men had broken into a house in Hawaiian Paradise Park and assaulted a 19-year-old Keaau man. The victim sustained minor injuries. The men fled before police arrived.