A visitor from Kent, Wash., died while snorkeling in waters off west Maui.
Maui Fire Services Chief Edward Taomoto said the 44-year-old man was snorkeling at Punalau Beach, also known as “Windmills,” Sunday afternoon, when beachgoers saw him waving his arms in the air about 100 yards offshore.
A man on the beach paddled out on a stand-up surfboard and brought the man in distress to shore.
Bystanders performed CPR on the unresponsive man, fire officials said.
Paramedics and firefighters from Napili arrived at 4:45 p.m. and took over attempts to resuscitate the man using advanced life-saving measures, but he could not be resuscitated and died on the scene, officials said.
Kauai
Toddler critical after hit by truck
A 4-year-old boy remained in critical condition Monday after he was struck by a truck Sunday at Lydgate Beach Park in Wailua, Kauai police said.
Shortly before 5 p.m., the driver of a Nissan pickup struck the boy while attempting to park near the restrooms at Kamalani Playground, police said. The driver was not hurt.
Speed or alcohol were not involved, police said.
Paramedics and fire rescue crews responded and performed CPR on the child, who sustained severe head injuries and was taken to Wilcox Medical Center. He was later flown to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.
Hawaii island
Propane truck fire finally put out
Hawaii island firefighters extinguished a fire Monday on an overturned propane tanker truck that burned for two days following a fatal crash in Honomu.
Firefighters put the fire out at 5:20 a.m. and turned the scene over to police at 8 a.m. for an investigation into the traffic fatality, said fire Battalion Chief Matthias Kusch in a statement.
The fire started at about 2 p.m. Saturday when a Hawaii Gas truck was involved in a head-on crash with an SUV near the 13-mile marker on Highway 19.
Firefighters said a woman in her 30s from the SUV died at the scene and three other people from the SUV were taken to a hospital in various conditions. The driver of the gas truck was also taken to a hospital.
Police said officers received conflicting information about how the crash occurred and did not immediately release further information.
Over the weekend, firefighters shot more than a million gallons of water on the truck to keep it from exploding.
Battalion Chief Kusch said the propane truck held about 1,750 gallons of liquid propane when it crashed, which is equivalent to 97,000 cubic feet of gas propane, or nearly enough to fill a 10-story building, 100 feet long and 100 feet wide.
“An enormous amount of potential energy,” Kusch said on Sunday. “It would be a pretty catastrophic explosion.”
Firefighters sprayed water on the truck while allowing gas to burn off from a pipe on the truck to reduce the pressure inside the tank.
