Two die in single-car accident 10-26-02

HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
SERGEANT SAMUEL V. JELSMA
PHONE: 961-2332
OCTOBER 26, 2002
H-25783
NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE

MEDIA RELEASE

Two visitors from Hungary died Saturday (October 26, 2002) in a one-car crash that occurred on Mac Nut Road, about two miles in from Route 11 and before the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory.

The identities of the two female victims, ages 67 and 77, are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Responding to a 2:47 p.m. call Saturday, police officers determined that a rented 2002 Dodge sedan driven by Barna Fekete, 48, of Honolulu, was heading east on Mac Nut Road when the driver lost control, ran off the right shoulder of the road and struck a macadamia nut tree.

Both female passengers in the care were taken to the Hilo Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead at 5:22 p.m.

Rescue personnel treated the driver of the car for minor injuries at the scene. He was not taken to the hospital.

An investigation showed that the driver had been wearing a seat belt and that both front airbags deployed on impact. The two female victims, one seated in the front passenger seat and the other in the read, were not wearing seat belts and sustained head injuries in the crash.

Fekete was a tour guide operator for the two Hungarian victims.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers are continuing the investigation into the accident and have ordered autopsies to determine the exact cause of death. Two standard negligent homicide cases have been initiated.

Because the crash occurred on a private road, the deaths were not counted as traffic-related fatalities, which remain at 20 so far on the Big Island this year compared to 22 at the same time last year.

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