BREAKING: Mauian Dies in Zipline Accident on Big Island

By Wendy Osher

*** UPDATE now posted at the following LINK.

(Posted: 4:08 p.m. 9/21/11)

A Maui man is dead and an Ohio man was critically injured in a zip line accident Wednesday morning in Paukaʻa on the Big Island.

Both men were employed by a Maui company that builds and maintains zip lines, according to Hawai’i Island police.

The two men had just made an adjustment to the line and were in the process of testing it when the accident occurred, police say.

The 36-year-old Maui man had traveled about halfway across the 2,300-foot span when a tower collapsed.  Authorities say he fell approximately 200 feet to his death.

The 43-year-old Ohio man, who was standing on the tower, fell about 30 feet. He was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition with multiple internal injuries.