A woman and man were killed early yesterday morning when their speeding car veered off Kamehameha Highway and slammed into a cement pillar in Pearl City, police said.

The woman, 47, of Wai'anae, was driving the 2006 Mitsubishi Galant. Her 41-year-old passenger was a Kapolei man.

Police said both died at the scene of the single-car crash shortly after 3 a.m. Their names were not released yesterday by the city medical examiner.

The car was heading west on Kamehameha Highway when it veered to the left and spun out of control just east of Pu'umomi Street. Police said the Galant crossed the grassy median, hit a street sign and continued into oncoming traffic.

The car jumped the sidewalk, hit a light pole, vaulted into an upper-parking lot wall before dropping into the lower-parking lot at the Pearl City Business Plaza. The car slammed into a natural gas line before it hit a cement pillar.

Both occupants were pinned in the car and were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said speed was a factor in the crash.

The broken gas line caused concern because of the possibility of an explosion or fire. But Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Terry Seelig said it did not hamper efforts to reach the victims.

"The patients had severe enough injuries that our removing them from the badly twisted automobile wreck was a recovery, not a rescue," Seelig said. "We had to ensure scene safety of the responders, as well as the rest of the community, and with the gas leak that makes a bigger problem — where is that gas going to go and what happens if it ignites. It just made it more complicated."

The fatalities were the 31st and 32nd this year, compared with 36 at the same period last year, police said.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.