A five-vehicle crash on the first day of the new year left two people dead and six others injured on Kunia Road.

At a late-evening news conference, Honolulu Police Department Maj. Thomas Nitta said the crash happened about 6:55 p.m. yesterday just south of Kunia Drive. Two of the vehicles were heading north and three were coming from the opposite direction.

He said the wreckage was spread out over 100 yards.

An Emergency Medical Services spokesman said a teenage boy, perhaps 16 or 17, and a woman who appeared to be in her late 20s were killed.

Nitta said the first vehicle was driven a 21-year-old man and carrying the male who died. Also in the vehicle were a girl, a man between 18 and 25 who was in critical condition at the hospital, and another man who was in serious condition.

A woman driving another vehicle died at the scene, Nitta said.

A third vehicle was driven by a 32-year-old woman, who was in serious condition at the Queen’s Medical Center.

A 26-year-old man driving a truck was also in serious condition at Queen’s.

The last vehicle was driven by a 49-year-old man and also carried a 29-year-old woman and two infants. No one was injured in that vehicle.

Nitta said speed appears to have been a factor in the crash, which happened on an unlit area of the roadway.

"It’s people who are operating vehicles, they have to make personal choices on how they operate the vehicles," he said. "No matter how good a driver you are, you sometimes become part of the accident."

Kunia Road remained closed between Lyman Gate and Anonui Street on the Royal Kunia side. It was unknown how long the road would remain closed.

In 2010, 62 people died in traffic crashes on Oahu.