Two road accidents injure 5

Three occupants of an overturned pickup truck were seriously injured, including one who was tossed into the air from the truck’s bed, during a crash involving two other vehicles at the intersection of Chalan Pale Arnold and Kopa Di Oru Street near Sugar King Park in Garapan yesterday at noon.

As this developed, two Chinese men were hurt, including one who was seriously injured, after they were hit and run over by vehicles along Beach Road near Kanoa Resort last night.

In the first incident, Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Derek Gersonde said all three victims were brought to the Commonwealth Health Center’s emergency room.

Gersonde said a 54-year-old man who was sitting in the bed of the pickup truck was found unconscious with a laceration on the head and abrasions on the body.

The other passenger of the pickup truck, a 53-year-old man, showed signs of altered mental status at first but later complained of pain in the chest and lower extremities, Gersonde said.

The 45-year-old male driver of the pickup truck complained of pain on the left shoulder.

Medics applied a cervical collar and used a spine board to stabilize all three patients’ necks and spines.

No one was injured in the two other vehicles, which only had moderate damage, Saipan Tribune learned.

Gersonde said DFEMS received a call from 911 dispatch about an overturned vehicle along Chalan Pale Arnold Road near Sugar King Park at 12:14pm. Medics from Koblerville, Garapan, and Susupe fire stations responded.

Saipan Tribune sought more information from the Department of Public Safety, but there was no reply as of press time.

According to witnesses, a Toyota car being driven by a Chinese male music teacher had just come from the parking area of a hardware store across the Garapan Central Park. The teacher drove the car to Chalan Pale Arnold and went to the inner lane to turn left at the intersection of Kopa Di Oru Street.

The white pickup truck, which was traveling south on the inner lane of Chalan Pale Arnold, hit the teacher’s car on the left side. The truck lost control and flipped over, causing its passenger to be thrown off. The truck also struck the left driver’s side of a northbound Honda Civic being driven by a woman.

The truck overturned in the middle of Chalan Pale Arnold, with its front facing the Saipan Museum area.

Northbound vehicles immediately stopped to prevent hitting the unconscious victim who was thrown from the truck.

Responding medics, assisted by police officers, removed the driver and one passenger who was pinned underneath the overturned truck.

A witness said he was shocked because “it was like a scene in a Transformer movie.”

The accident snarled traffic along Chalan Pale Arnold and Beach Road for over an hour as officers rerouted traffic flow.

It is not clear yet who was found at fault. The road was wet as it was drizzling at that time.

In the second crash, Gersonde said the 18-year-old Chinese male had lacerations and deformities on the head and had abrasions on the upper and lower extremities.

Gersonde said the teenager was pinned underneath the car.

The second victim, a 23-year-old Chinese man, complained of pain on the left arm.

Both patients were brought to the CHC emergency room.

Gersonde said DFEMS received a call from 911 dispatch about an auto-pedestrian accident in Chalan Kanoa at 6:30pm.

Medics from Koblerville, Garapan and Susupe fire stations responded and removed the teenager from underneath the car.

Medics used a cervical and spine board to prevent any further injuries to the teenager.

No other details were given. DPS has yet to release information about the incident.