2 Tongan royal family members killed in California car crash, authorities say

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This article was published 07/07/2006 (7390 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Tongan prince known for promoting political reform in his South Pacific island nation died in a car crash along with his wife when a teenage driver slammed into them.

Prince Tu’ipelehake, 56, and Princess Kaimana, 46, died Wednesday night, according to Senter Uhilamoelangi, a distant relative and longtime friend of the prince.

The 18-year-old female driver who hit their sport utility vehicle was travelling at up to 160 kilometres an hour in Menlo Park, about 48 kilometres south of San Francisco, highway patrol Officer Ricky Franklin said. The young woman survived the crash and was arrested.

Tu’ipelehake, a nephew of King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV who led a national committee studying democratic reforms, had come to the Bay Area earlier this week to discuss politics with members of the region’s Tongan community, according to Senter Uhilamoelangi, a distant relative of the prince who lives in East Palo Alto and helped arrange the visit.

“His voice we’ll never hear again, but his legacy is going to live on,” Uhilamoelangi said.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault confirmed that two members of Tonga’s royal family died in the crash, but he would not release their names until the Tongan government made an official announcement.

In a statement, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters praised the prince’s reform efforts and called the deaths a tragedy. He said Tu’ipelehake was called the “Prince of the People.”

Franklin said Edith Delgado was trying to pass the couple’s SUV when her car slammed into it, causing it to swerve across several lanes before tumbling to a stop on its roof.

Delgado, of Redwood City, was jailed on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and engaging in a speed contest, Franklin said.

The deaths stunned the Tongan community. The prince had been scheduled to speak Thursday at a Tongan church in San Bruno, and the event became a memorial service. The prince’s sister, Princess Mele Siuilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili, sat on the stage crying throughout the service.

“He tried to keep the connection with the Tongan people in America,” said Rev. Kalatini Ahio.

About 37,000 U.S. residents identified themselves as at least part Tongan in the 2000 census; 15,000 of them live in California.

Tonga — a 170-island archipelago about halfway between Australia and Tahiti — has a population of about 108,000 and an economy dependent on pumpkin and vanilla exports, fishing, foreign aid and remittances from Tongans abroad.

Now the last monarchy in the Pacific, Tonga has been a Polynesian kingdom and a protectorate of Britain, from which it acquired independence in 1970.