3-Car Collision Involving Propane Tanker Sends 4 to Hospital on Big Island

Four people were injured and transported to a Big Island hospital after a three-car collision involving a 3,000-gallon propane truck occurred near the 16-mile marker of Highway 11 in Kea´au Friday.

The Hawai´i Fire Department (HFD) received a call at a little after 11 am that the propane transport vehicle had collided with both a full-size pickup truck and a box truck, prompting the Hawai´i Police Department (HPD)to close both lanes of traffic for several hours.

HFD’s HAZMAT company found no active leak in the tanker, which the official departmental report listed as empty at the time of the incident.

HPD performed initial assessment of five potentially injured parties. HFD then triaged patients and requested additional assistance. A total of three medics transported four of the five individuals to the hospital. Their conditions were not disclosed in the initial HFD report.

Company 5 assisted the Department of Public Works and State Highways with the removal debris from roadway.

The cause of the incident remained under investigation as of 4 pm Friday.