Woman dies in car crash

A woman was killed while her husband was seriously hurt when the car they were driving swerved along Beach Road and slammed into a concrete fence of a residential compound in Oleai Saturday night.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Santiago Tudela confirmed with Saipan Tribune yesterday that a Korean woman died in the accident.

Tudela said alcohol and speed were factors in the crash. He said they will release more information about the accident today, Monday.

The Korean victim is the fourth traffic fatality in two weeks on Saipan and the ninth fatality in vehicular accidents this year in the CNMI.

Traffic Commander Sgt. Paul Ogumoro said the victims are a Korean couple and that the fatality was the passenger of the vehicle.

Ogumoro said they are temporarily withholding the names of the victims because they were still trying to notify the victims’ next of kin as of last night.

Ogumoro said the fatality, a 40-year-old woman, was declared dead on arrival by a doctor at the Commonwealth Health Center that same night.

He said DPS received the report about the accident Saturday at 10:10pm.

Initial investigation showed that the couple was in a four-door sedan heading north along Beach Road when it swerved shortly after reaching the corner of Teer Drive.

The car ran off the roadway and rammed the metal traffic sign located near the Mobil Gas Station.

After toppling the traffic sign, the car then slammed into the concrete fence of a residential compound owned by Lupe Manglona.

The strong impact caused a big hole on the concrete fence. The car ended up facing south after striking the wall.

A resident in the compound told Saipan Tribune that they were inside the house when they heard a loud crash.

The resident said they immediately checked outside because they thought a vehicle had struck their car, which was parked outside the house.

She said they saw a car had hit the concrete fence and that a police car arrived shortly.

Sgt. Ogumoro said one of the victims was wearing a seatbelt.

“It was a very serious accident. The car did not overturn, but it got mangled a little bit,” he said.

Ogumoro said the husband is going to survive.

The traffic commander advised motorists to drive responsibly this holiday season.

“We want motorists to be vigilant in reporting and calling 911 if they see cars weaving all over the road so that officers can proceed to that location and stop that vehicle before [the passengers] hurt themselves or hurt others,” he said.

On Nov. 16, three persons died and one was seriously injured when a car slammed into a power pole in front of the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library in Susupe.