Man dies after being hit by garbage truck

A 30-year-old man died Wednesday after he was hit by a privately owned garbage truck in Kapolei.

The truck struck the man at about 9 a.m. near Farrington Highway and Waiomea Street, an Emergency Medical Services report said. Paramedics treated the man for injuries to his chest, head and legs, and took him to a hospital in critical condition.

Police said the man later died. Police opened an unattended death investigation and said the incident may have been a suicide.

Boaters rescued by Navy helicopter crew

A Navy helicopter crew from Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay rescued three stranded boaters off Maui on Tuesday afternoon after the boaters’ engine died, the Coast Guard said.

The boat crew used an emergency locator beacon at about noon to notify the Coast Guard that they needed help.

The Coast Guard found the beacon was properly registered, contacted the registered contact, and found that the boaters had departed earlier in the day in a 17-foot boat from Kahana, Maui, for the north side of Molokai.

A Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched, but an H-60 Navy helicopter crew in the area conducting other operations heard the homing beacon and responded.

The Navy crew, from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 37, hoisted the boaters from the boat and flew them to Kahului Airport.

“My crew did exactly what they train to do,” said Lt. Cmdr. Megan Barnett, pilot of the H-60. “From hearing the beacon and looking out for a possible vessel, to spotting them waving life jackets at us, all the way through safely executing the approach to the vessel and recovering all three personnel without incident.”

No one was injured, and the boat was salvaged and towed to Molokai, the Coast Guard said.

Search for man’s body to continue on Maui

Maui firefighters will resume the search today for the body of a 20-year-old man who fell off a cliff into the ocean.

The man, reportedly a visitor, was hiking with three friends along Puka Maui Trail in East Maui when he fell about 20 feet from a sea cliff at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, Maui firefighters said.

The man’s companions called for help after losing sight of him in the water.

On Tuesday afternoon, firefighters in a helicopter saw the man’s body wash up on the rocks before it was swept back into the ocean, Fire Services Chief Edward Taomoto said.

Taomoto said dangerous surf of 20 to 25 feet hampered Tuesday’s search. And firefighters couldn’t walk the shoreline, which is mostly bluffs overlooking the ocean.

In addition, brown water from mountain stream runoff prevented divers from entering the ocean. Taomoto said firefighters ended their search at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday because of darkness.

The search resumed Wednesday and included divers in the water near an underwater lava tube but turned up nothing, he said.

A new northwest swell is expected to build to warning levels today and into Friday.

Puka Maui Trail is near the 7-mile marker on Hana Highway, and reaching the ocean requires a 90-minute hike. Taomoto said the trail was slippery Tuesday from overnight rain.