Crash on Highway 19 Forces Four-Hour Detour

Traffic on Highway 19 through Honoka`a was detoured into the town for more than four hours today following a collision between a semi-truck and a sedan.

Capt. Andrew Burian of the Hamakua Police Station said the crash occurred when the sedan was turning onto the highway in the Hilo direction from Mamane Street and failed to yield the right of way to a truck hauling a shipping container.

The truck, which was heading in the Waimea direction, struck the sedan and then an embankment on the makai side of the road before overturning.

Burian said one of the two occupants of the sedan sustained minor injuries in the collision that occurred near the 42-mile marker at about 11:30 a.m. The driver of the semi-truck was not injured.

According to civil defense officials, both lanes of the highway were closed to all but large trucks and commercial vehicles, with all other traffic detoured through Honoka`a town.

The highway was reopened at about 4 p.m.