Tragedy stung a Leeward Coast family again yesterday when the cousin of a woman killed nine days earlier died in a single-car crash in Ma'ili that knocked out power to more than 1,000 area residents.

Karina Noelani Hoohuli, a 21-year-old Wai'anae resident, died of "blunt force injuries to the head due to motor vehicle collision," according to the office of the city medical examiner.

Hoohuli's first cousin, Roelle K. Hoohuli, died Dec. 18 when she lost control of her truck and went off H-1 Freeway near 'Ewa.

Karina Hoohuli is the 68th traffic fatality on O'ahu this year, compared with 90 in all of 2006.

Hoohuli was the passenger in a white, four-door 2005 Chevrolet Malibu heading west on Pa'akea Road in Lualualei at 1:48 a.m. yesterday when the car went out of control one-tenth of a mile west of Apana Road, police Sgt. Daniel Kaholokula said.

The Malibu was being driven "at a high rate of speed" by a 23-year-old Wai'anae woman and flew over a large dip in the roadway before the driver lost control, Kaholokula said.

The car careened off three large boulders, flipped over several times, severed one utility pole and knocked down a second before coming to a stop.

The wreck downed several power lines, knocking out electricity to about 1,500 customers. Power was fully restored at 6:43 a.m., HECO said.

Hoohuli was pinned in the car and was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:12 a.m., emergency medical officials said.

The driver was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.

"It's tragic. For law enforcement officers, whose job is to protect the community, it's disheartening," police Capt. Frank T. Fujii said. "We're doing everything we can to help people save themselves but the bottom line is that people need to stop thinking that this can't happen to them.

"We've had fatalities on this road before. These were Leeward kids and they think they know the road."

Speed played a role in the crash but it is unclear if drugs or alcohol were factors in the accident, police said. The accident took place in light traffic, on a clear night.

Police said Hoohuli's cousin, Roelle K. Hoohuli, lost control of her maroon 2006 Nissan Frontier pickup truck at 3:24 a.m. Dec. 18 and drove off the right shoulder lane of the freeway and down a steep embankment, west of the 'Ewa off-ramp.

The truck flipped over at least twice through brush and shrubs before landing, wheels down, 186 feet north of the freeway.

Roelle Hoohuli was also pronounced dead at the scene.

Pa'akea Road in Lualualei has long been regarded by police and area residents as a treacherous spot and has claimed the lives of at least three young people in the past two years.

In February 2006 a speeding car went airborne after it topped a rise on Pa'akea Road in Ma'ili, flipped on its left side and slid into a street sign post, a fence and a utility pole.

The 19-year-old female driver and a 15-year-old female passenger died in the crash.

In August 2005, Kristie Rivera-Akui, 16, of Kapolei, was killed when the car in which she was a passenger crashed into and severed a utility pole in front of 87-911 Pa'akea Road in Ma'ili.

Police said the eastbound Toyota Solara had overtaken a vehicle and was trying to pass another when the driver lost control of the speeding car, which skidded into the utility pole at 1:10 p.m. Rivera-Akui died at the scene.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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