Bus crash in Laupāhoehoe on Hawaiʻi Island sends 22 to the hospital with minor injuries

Hawai‘i Island police are investigating a traffic crash involving a County of Hawai‘i Hele-On bus that occurred early Tuesday morning, Sept. 30, 2025, along Māmalahoa Highway in Laupāhoehoe that sent 22 people to the hospital. 

At 4:56 a.m., Hāmākua patrol officers responded to the area of the 25.5 mile marker after a bus went through a guardrail down an embankment on the makai, ocean side, of the highway, according to a department press release.

Police determined that the bus had stopped at the Laupāhoehoe Scenic Lookout to pick up passengers. The driver, a 66-year-old Hilo man, reported that he had placed the bus in park and walked toward the rear of the vehicle to check for available seating, when the bus began rolling backwards onto the highway, went through a guardrail, and down an embankment, coming to rest on its passenger side, according to department reports.

Hawai‘i Fire Department personnel examined the driver and 22 passengers at the scene. All 22 passengers were transported by multiple ambulances to Hilo Benioff Medical Center for further evaluation. The most serious injury reported was a minor laceration to the hand of an elderly male passenger, according to police.

The investigation is ongoing.