A man has died in a vehicle crash at Taelefaga, Fagaloa with another person in a critical condition at the Lalomanu District Hospital.

A family member of the deceased, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Samoa Observer that there were five people in a white Toyota Landcruiser that allegedly overturned when the driver lost control.

He said the crash resulted in one death and landed another passenger in critical condition at the district hospital. 

"Five of them were traveling then accidentally this happened and has been said that one of them died and one is in critical condition,” added the family member.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority Commissioner, Tanuvasa Petone Mauga, confirmed the death in a telephone interview and said the crash occured on Monday afternoon.

“We received a phone call from some of the members of the village who were at the scene, then we headed there where first aid was applied but unfortunately one person died,” he told the Samoa Observer.

“When the Police arrived we let them do their job but at the time we arrived, we noticed that those who were at the scene took the passengers (of the overturned vehicle) to the Lalomanu Hospital for treatment.”

Tanuvasa says officers from the F.E.S.A. worked with the Police at the scene of the accident and the Police are now doing their  investigations. 

Attempts by the Samoa Observer to get a comment from the Police Commissioner Fuiavaili'ili Egon Keil on Tuesday was unsuccessful. 

The death of the man at Taelefaga on Monday comes four days after a 25-year-old man was killed when he fell from a 10-wheel dump truck in Iva, Savai’i last Thursday morning and got run over in front of shocked residents.

It is not known if the Police in Savai’i have laid charges against the dump truck driver or impounded the vehicle as part of their investigations into the fatal accident.

It is understood the deceased man from Salelologa was allegedly hanging on the side of the dump truck’s body when he fell off and met his death.

In March this year the Deputy Police Commissioner Papali’i Monalisa Tiai-Keti expressed concerns at the rise in traffic accidents.

Her concerns came on the back of Ministry of Police and Prisons data that showed a spike in traffic accidents between January–March this year of over 600 traffic accidents.

She appealed to drivers in Samoa to ensure that they adhere to the traffic laws of the country for their own safety and that of their passengers.