Tongan prince, princess killed in Calif. highway crash
Posted: Friday, July 7th, 2006 12:56 pmA speeding teenager with a new license allegedly killed three people — two of them members of the Tongan royal family — in a horrific collision Wednesday night in Menlo Park.
The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office confirmed Thursday that the crash killed two members of the royal family from the tiny South Pacific country, a 55-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman. The coroner’s office still would not name them late Thursday because the Tongan government had yet to issue an official statement.
News reports from Tonga identified the victims as Prince Tu’ipelehake and his wife, Princess Kaimana. Tu’ipelehake, a nephew of 88-year-old King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, was a leading advocate for democratic reforms in Tonga. …
The teenager whose car clipped the Explorer, Edith Delgado, 18, of Redwood City, was booked into the San Mateo County jail on suspicion of three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of illegal speed contest. She had received her driver’s license Feb. 2, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. …
The prince, who would have turned 46 on Monday, was supposed to speak at … the First Tongan United Methodist Church in San Bruno, on Thursday night. But the event turned into a memorial service. … Read full obituary
