Deaths of royals in Menlo Park accident [1]
Friday, July 7, 2006 - 08:30. Updated on Monday, October 6, 2014 - 11:35.
Two members of Tonga's Royal family, HRH Prince Tu‘ipelehake and Princess Kaimana, died in a car accident in San Francisco last night according to Tongans living in the area, but this has yet to be officially confirmed by the Palace Office in Tonga.
The Prince Tu'ipelehake and his wife Princess Kaimana were reported killed along with their driver, Vinisia Hefa of Haveluloto, Tonga, after a teenage driver hit their vehicle at high speed just before 9 p.m. yesterday at Menlo Park near Palo Alto.
Tonga's Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Vainga Tone, said this morning that they were now awaiting an autopsy report before they could make an official announcement. "We haven't got confirmation from the Consul General because the coroner is still working on the autopsy and they need time to identify the fingerprints. But if it is true, it is very sad news indeed."
The San Francisco Chronicle this morning reported that three people died
after a Mustang driven by an 18-year-old woman attempted to pass another vehicle at high speed and struck the driver's side of a red Ford Explorer, driven by a woman about 45 to 50 years of age with two passengers on board.
The SUV driver attempted to regain control but the vehicle flipped several times before stopping on its roof along the shoulder of the road. The driver and the two pasengers were killed. The names of the deceased were not immediately available.