A 48-year-old man was in critical condition Tuesday with burns to about 45 percent of his upper body following an electrical accident in a Waikiki high-rise building.
The incident happened while the man was drilling a hole in a wall in a space for the trash chute and made contact with an electrical line, causing an electric shock or possibly a blast of heat, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. David Jenkins.
The man’s clothes caught fire, and the ensuing smoke and flames set off the building’s fire alarm, Jenkins said.
Firefighters responded at about 11:20 a.m. to the ninth floor of Waikiki Skytower, 2410 Cleghorn St., and found the man in a unit cooling off in the shower.
A woman in her 50s was also looked at by paramedics for smoke inhalation and stress, but she declined transport to the hospital, Jenkins said.
An Emergency Medical Services report said paramedics treated the man for burns to almost half of his upper body and took him in critical condition to a hospital.
Victim of Big Island crash is identified
Hawaii County police have identified the 20-year-old Captain Cook woman who died Sunday after the car she was driving on Hawaii Belt Road crossed the centerline and crashed head-on with an SUV as Breanna Fujimoto.
Fujimoto was taken to Kona Community Hospital following the collision at 1:27 p.m. Saturday on Hawaii Belt Road (Route 11) just south of the Kamehameha III Highway intersection, and died the following day.
Police determined that a 2016 Honda sedan operated by Fujimoto had been traveling south when it crossed the centerline of the roadway and crashed head-on with a 2015 Nissan SUV traveling north and operated by a 38-year-old Kealakekua woman.
The driver of the SUV and her children, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, were also taken to Kona Community Hospital. The woman and the girl were treated and released from the hospital. The boy was transferred to the Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu and was listed in stable condition.
Woman fatally struck by motorcycle ID’d
Police have identified a pedestrian who died Saturday after being struck by a motorcycle in Hilo.
Rhonda Broad, 61, of Hilo was killed while walking on the northbound lane of Railroad Avenue by a motorcycle driven by Lionel Chartrand, 66, of Hilo.
Both were taken to Hilo Medical Center, where they died.
The accident occurred at 7:25 p.m. Saturday on Railroad Avenue at Makalika Street in Hilo.
Sandy Beach victim was Missouri man
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the 58-year-old Missouri visitor who died Friday after being pulled from the water at Sandy Beach as Mark Saffell.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine cause of death.
Police said bystanders and city lifeguards found the man unresponsive in the ocean at 11:34 a.m.
Paramedics treated and took Saffell, who is from St. Peters, Mo., in critical condition to the hospital, where he died.
