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Mauna Kea fatality 03-28-07

HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
ACTING SERGEANT NORBERT SERRAO JR.
PHONE: 961-2332
MARCH 27, 2007
REPORT NO. C07010342

MEDIA RELEASE

A 34-year-old Honolulu man and a 33-year-old woman from Japan died Tuesday (March 27) from injuries sustained in a one-vehicle traffic crash on Mauna Kea Access Road .4 miles northeast of John Burns Way, above the Mauna Kea Visitors Center.

The man was identified as Philip Patrick Y.M. Lung, 34, of Honolulu. His wife, 31-year-old Ryoko Lung, was seriously injured. She was taken by ambulance to Hilo Medical Center and then transferred to the Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition.

The name of the Japanese woman is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of next of kin.

Responding to a 2:26 p.m. call, South Hilo Patrol officers determined that Philip Lung was operating a red 2006 Jeep multi-purpose vehicle down Mauna Kea Access Road when he lost control around a curve and then ran off the road, down an embankment and overturned. The Japanese woman was ejected from the back of the Jeep.

Both Lung and the Japanese woman were transported to Hilo Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

Philip and Ryoko Lung were wearing their seatbelts. The Japanese woman was not. Police believe speed was a factor in the crash.

Traffic Enforcement unit officers are continuing the investigation and have ordered autopsies to determine the exact causes of death.

The deaths are the 11th and 12th fatalities on the Big Island this year compared with 11 at this time last year.

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