Electricity was restored to affected areas Thursday afternoon after a truck collided with a car at Tanugamanono and then ploughed into a transformer pole in front of the Rivaiv Cafe and Turmeric Bar.

Authorities responsible were quick to warn the members of the public about the accident and the dangers of being exposed to the live wire on the ground. Members of the public also took to social media to alert others to the dangers. 

Bystanders told the Samoa Observer that the truck, which was coming from Apia crashed into the front of a white car that was driving out from the Rivaiv Restaurant onto the main road. After hitting the car, the truck crashed into the wooden pole breaking it.

Faafetai Tuimanu'a who was waiting for a bus told Samoa Observer that the truck may have been speeding. He said this was the only reason the truck managed to take down the pole.

"The truck was speeding from down the road and I don't know how it hit the other vehicle which was waiting to drive into the main road in front of that restaurant but it ended up crashing into the pole," he explained. "Fortunately, no lives were taken as well as the driver of the truck was safe, but just the woman and her kids in the car were all taken to the hospital.

"No one is injured but they're just shocked by the accident but we saw the driver of the truck going with the police."

Mr. Tuimanu'a added that it was the quick response of the Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority (S.F.E.S.A.) that saved members of the public from the dangers caused by the accident.

The road was also blocked while the pole was being fixed for about an hour before power was restored to the affected areas.

When Samoa Observer visited the scene of the accident, staff of the Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C.) were redirecting the electric wires to another pole to reconnect the affected areas with power and to avoid the danger posed by live wires from the damaged pole.

The power outage affected Tanugamanono towards Vailima, Leufisa, Motootua, Malifa, parts of Tufuiopa, Maluafou, as well as parts of Lelata according to an E.P.C notice on its official Facebook page. 

The Rivaiv restaurant which was also affected also issued a notice of their temporary closure due to the "unforeseen incident".

"To our valued customers, our Rivaiv Cafe Tanugamanono branch is temporarily closed today - Thursday due to an unforeseen accident in front of our premises, we hope everyone involved is safe, however, we will keep you informed of our Father's Day operating hours shortly."

Attempts by the Samoa Observer to get a comment from the Police Commissioner and the E.P.C. General Manager on the incident were unsuccessful.