Two admitted to hospital after county bus rollover

The driver of a Hawaii County Hele-On bus that rolled down an embankment and overturned early Tuesday morning in Laupahoehoe has been relieved of his duties pending further investigation.

According to Tom Callis, spokesman for Mayor Kimo Alameda, the driver, a 66-year-old Hilo man, was treated for minor injuries. Callis said the driver was contracted through the private transportation company Roberts Hawaii.

“At this point, no charges have been filed, but the investigation is ongoing,” added Hawaii Police Department Sgt. Branden Watanabe of Hamakua Patrol Division.

Asked about the nature of the investigation or any potential charges, Watanabe replied, “At this point, it’s considered a regular traffic collision with injuries involved.”

According to police, Hawaii Fire Department personnel examined the driver and 22 passengers at the scene. All 22 passengers were transported by multiple ambulances to Hilo Benioff Medical Center for further evaluation.

“After some precautionary evaluation, two of them were admitted, but everyone else was treated and released at the hospital,” Watanabe said.

The most serious injury reported was a minor laceration to the hand of an elderly male passenger.

The bus, which was traveling toward Honokaa on the Hawaii Belt Road, had stopped at the Laupahoehoe Scenic Lookout to pick up passengers, police said.

The driver told officers that he had placed the bus in park and walked toward the rear of the vehicle to check for available seating, when the bus began rolling backward onto the highway, went through a guardrail and down an embankment, coming to rest on its passenger side. That’s the side of the bus where the entrance and exit doors are.

“Some of the people who were calling in were saying that people were coming out of the emergency exit, so it sounds like at least a good portion of them self-extricated,” Watanabe said. “I think some of them who were a little more seriously injured were helped out by (the Hawaii Fire Department) or bystanders.”

The call for assistance came at 4:56 a.m. with responders directed to the 25.5-mile marker of Mamalahoa Highway (Route 19). They found the bus down the embankment on the makai, or ocean side, of the highway.

Alameda appeared Tuesday on Hawaii News Now’s “Spotlight Hawaii” early morning program and shared some preliminary information about the crash.

“A lot of passengers rely on our bus service — to go to work, to go to the doctor, post office, bank, you know, to see family, friends. So, you know, this is a major issue for us. I’ve never remembered a bus getting into an accident like this in the past,” the mayor said.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.