(BIVN) – Police say four people were injured, one critically, in a Wednesday evening crash on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway that closed the cross-island road.

From the Hawaiʻi Police Department:

Hawai‘i Island police are investigating a two-vehicle traffic collision that took place early Wednesday evening, June 28, 2023, on Daniel K. Inouye Highway near the 9-mile marker in Hilo in which four people were injured, one critically.

Responding to a 6:07 p.m. report of a traffic collision, police investigators determined that a 2020 Ford Expedition SUV, driven by a 45-year-old South Carolina man, was traveling west (uphill) on Daniel K. Inouye Highway when it appears to have hydroplaned, spun out, and crossed the center line. The Ford Expedition’s right-rear corner then collided with the front of a 2017 Toyota Sienna passenger van, driven by a 32-year-old Hilo man. At the time of the collision the roadway was wet and visibility was low due to fogging.

The SUV contained five members of a family from South Carolina, the driver, his 44-year-old wife, and three children: two sons, age 15 and 22, and an 18-year-old daughter. The passenger van was occupied by the operator. Three occupants from the SUV, and the driver of the passenger van sustained injuries from the collision and were transported to Hilo Medical Center for treatment and further evaluation. One of the injured, an 18-year-old female, was transported to Queens Medical Center on Oahu in critical condition.

Hilo Patrol officers have initiated a negligent injury investigation, which is pending, and the East Hawaii Traffic Enforcement Unit will be assisting. Police believe that a combination of speeding and wet roadways played a role in the collision.

Hawai‘i Island police are asking for anyone who may have witnessed the collision or who has information about it to contact Officer Devon Manuel at (808) 935-3311 or via email
devon.manuel@HawaiiCounty.gov. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.