Woman killed, 4 injured in Palani Road crash

KAILUA-KONA — A woman was killed and four people were taken to the hospital following a two-car crash Friday afternoon on Palani Road.

The roadway was closed near Laimana Street, which is located above Kona Coast Nazarene church. The closure lasted for at least three hours while the Traffic Enforcement Unit investigated the crash and a tow truck came to remove the vehicles, according to the Hawaii Police Department. The crash was reported at 4:44 p.m.

The head-on crash involved a makai-bound white four-door sedan and a mauka-bound silver GMC pick-up truck. Both vehicles sustained major front-end damage.

While motorists were stalled on the two-way roadway, residents living along Palani Road near the crash were standing in their driveways. One woman was alerting drivers as they approached the scene, giving them the opportunity to turn around.

Brittany Santiago lives just down the road from where the accident occurred. She said she heard a loud crash. Moments after the collision she heard a woman yell: “Help me!”

Santiago’s brothers went to assist. Strider Ray said while at the scene he helped a woman exit one of the cars. Another man took over and laid her on the ground.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Ray said. “I was just helping.”

Ray said he went back to the house to wash his hands. When he returned to the scene, someone was performing CPR on the woman he assisted out of the car. She later died.