2 die in North Kona collision

KAILUA-KONA — A collision between a dump truck and an SUV in Kailua-Kona on Thursday afternoon left two people dead and another injured.

According to a report from the Hawaii Fire Department, the SUV was broadsided by a dump truck carrying a full load of gravel near mile marker 31.5 at about 12:34 p.m. Thursday on Highway 190 (Mamalahoa Highway) in North Kona. Both vehicles came to a stop off the makai side of the roadway.

The department arrived at the scene at 12:42 p.m. The report indicated two people in the SUV were pronounced dead on arrival. The driver of the dump truck got out of the vehicle on his own and was later transported by medics to Kona Community Hospital.

The number of people in the SUV at the time of the incident has not been confirmed, but Jeffrey Werle, who was traveling to Hilo with Johnathon Isidro, drove by the wreckage in the immediate aftermath of the collision.

“There was still smoke in the air, the tires were still spinning,” Werle said. “People were out on the road and a woman was screaming, ‘My baby, my baby!’ with her hands in the air.”

Whether the woman who Werle observed was involved in the collision directly is unknown, as is the name and age of the person to whom she was referring.

Werle and Isidro notified authorities about what they saw as they continued on, and were told responders were already en route.

The incident resulted in a closure of the highway for several hours. The cause of the collision is under investigation, and authorities have yet to release the names of the people involved.

Email Max Dible at mdible@westhawaiitoday.com.