Two people died instantly when the car that they were in went off Taufa'ahau Road at Pea, hit a power pole and crashed onto a tree, early on Saturday, 22 October.

They were 20-year-old man from Ha'akame, and a 23-year-old woman from Haveluloto, who had been living in New Zealand.

The car was traveling eastward along Taufa'ahau Road toward Ha'ateiho, with seven people, two females and five males, when the crash occurred between 1:00-1:30 am.

The Acting Police Commissioner, Taniela Faletau said today that preliminary investigations showed a number of factors may have contributed to the fatal accident, "they were obviously traveling faster than the driver could control the vehicle, and alcohol consumption was also involved."

He said the driver remained in a serious condition and other passengers had also received some very serious injuries. One other young woman in the car escaped with light injuries.

The two deaths brings the number of road deaths to nine, compared to a total of six road deaths for the whole of 2010.

Police urged drivers to refrain from drinking alcohol before driving and to use seatbelts while riding in vehicles.