A 39-year-old male driver form Havelu,  whose vehicle crashed on Taufa'ahau Road in the Nuku'alofa CBD on Monday, 19 June, died in hospital the same morning.

Tonga Police said at around 9:58 am, officers responded to the road accident on Taufa'ahau Road. The driver was rushed to Vaiola Hospital, where he passed away at around 10:40am on the same morning.

It is believed that the deceased’s health condition deteriorated while driving, which led to the accident.

Police said he was working for the Ministry of Health and was picking up a guest from the Hotel Nuku’alofa. As they were heading south on Taufa’ahau Road, just past the Catholic Basilica,  they unexpectedly hit another vehicle that was in front of them.

“The passenger noticed at this time that the driver’s body stiffened, causing him to step on the gas pedal and accelerate to a speed of 70 km/hr.

“This caused the vehicle to climb on top of the runabout at the intersection of Taufa’ahau and Mateialona Roads and it swerved to the left side of the road, where it scraped the back of two vehicles at the Lulutai Airline office parking lot, before it ran over a vendor tent next door, then crashed onto an olive tree.”

The passenger was not injured.

Police were waiting for the doctor’s report during their investigation into the crash.

There are now five road fatalities so far this year.