A 55-year-old Kona man is dead after a one-car collision Saturday near Honaunau in South Kona. A 55-year-old Kona man is dead after a one-car collision Saturday near Honaunau in South Kona. ADVERTISING Police said Bryan Hanato of Kealakeua was
A 55-year-old Kona man is dead after a one-car collision Saturday near Honaunau in South Kona.
Police said Bryan Hanato of Kealakeua was traveling north on Highway 11 when he lost control of his car, ran off the road and overturned his 2000 Mitsubishi two-door sedan just north of mile marker 105.
Hanato wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car, police said.
A Hawaii Fire Department release on the accident said the man showed no signs of life when firefighters responded to the 1:34 p.m. call. Hanato was taken to Kona Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4:17 p.m.
Police, who have ordered an autopsy and started a coroner’s inquest, said it was unknown if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident, but they suspect speed was.
Both lanes of Hawaii Belt Road were closed for about 1 1/2 hours to investigate and clean up the accident — traffic was routed along Keala O Keawe Road.
Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call Officer Larry Flowers at 326-4646, extension 229.
This is the 33rd traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with 16 at this time last year.
