Wailuku, HI : Two die in Pukalani crash; others injured on Saturday, 8th October 2016

Two women died in a four-vehicle crash around 10:15 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of Haleakala Highway and Makani Road, said Lt. William Gannon, Maui Police Department Traffic Section commander.

Three people were injured critically; two were hurt but without life-threatening injuries; and one reported pain, Gannon said shortly before 4 p.m.

The injured people were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, he said.

While investigating the accident scene, police detoured traffic, closing Haleakala Highway from the Pukalani turnoff to Makawao Avenue. Traffic was rerouted via Loha Street to Iolani Street and down Old Haleakala Highway through Puklani, a Maui County road closure notification said.

The roadway closure led to a massive traffic backup, motorists reported. Contributing to the traffic tie-up is the closure of Old Haleakala Highway between the McDonald’s restaurant and Pukalani Street because of unrelated road work.

Pukalani resident Laurie Keyhani said she had dropped off her 16-year-old daughter at tennis practice and was approaching the intersection on Makani Road, just seconds after the crash happened.

“I’m grateful I did not see it,” she said. “Everybody got out of their cars and were looking at it. There was smoke everywhere. . . Everybody was stunned; their mouths hanging open.”

Ahead of her, Keyhani saw people in a convertible, probably tourists, who had seen the crash. A woman held her head in her hands.

“It must have happened right in front of them, while stopped at the stoplight,” she said. “Other people were running to the scene. . . people calling police. . . There was debris and car parts everywhere.”

Source :
Two die in Pukalani crash; others injured