- Sione Veikoso, 22, passed away on Friday.
- Veikoso, 22, passed away on Friday as a result of a retaining wall collapsed.
- He was trustworthy and kind.
Sione Veikoso, an offensive lineman for Brigham Young University, was murdered in a construction accident in his native Hawaii, according to family relatives.
Veikoso, 22, passed away on Friday as a result of a retaining wall that collapsed while he was working on it over the school holidays, according to his family. The 15-foot (4.5-meter) rock wall partially collapsed behind a house in Kailua, which is roughly 12 miles (19 kilometres) northeast of Honolulu, according to the Honolulu Fire Department, injuring three other people.
On behalf of the entire BYU Football family, our thoughts and prayers are with Sione’s family and friends during this extremely difficult time.
Rest in Love Sione. God be with you till we meet again. pic.twitter.com/Bn0oW4kylY
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 31, 2022
A kind giant who cherished his family, he was. He was trustworthy and kind, according to Veikoso’s cousin Joshua Kava, who spoke in writing to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
The 6-foot-7 (2-meter), 305-pound (138-kilogram), lineman had finished his first season at BYU after transferring there with four years left on his eligibility from Arizona State.
Just before noon on Friday, firefighters discovered the collapsed wall at the house and onlookers removing boulders that were trapping the men with a small excavator. Due to the unstable nature of the wall, rescuers called them off and freed two of the soldiers in about 15 minutes by physically moving rocks. Veikoso was further entrapped though. He was taken out of the vehicle about 12:30 and was declared dead there at 1:35.
Authorities were informed by the homeowner that the stone wall needed to be repaired. Six persons in total were present. Two people were unharmed, and one man managed to flee the rubble before the firefighters arrived.
Sione, rest in love. God be with you until we cross paths again, the BYU football team tweeted.
Before starting college, Veikoso served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Manaus, Brazil, for two years after graduating from high school.
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