BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Two members of the royal family of Tonga were killed in a car accident on Highway 101 in Menlo Park, California, on Wednesday, according to media reports.

    Media reports which could not be confirmed said Prince Tu'ipelehake and his wife Princess Kaimana Fielakepa were killed during a collision between a sport utility vehicle and a Ford Mustang on a highway south of San Francisco on Wednesday night.

    San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault would not release the names of the crash victims, but he said a 56-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman killed in the crash Wednesday night were members of the Tongan royal family.

    "Out of respect for the Tongan culture and Tongan government, we are not going to release the names until the Tongan government has done the proper protocols of notification," Foucrault said Thursday.

    The driver of the red Ford Explorer carrying the two also was killed in the accident, the California Highway Patrol said.

   A teenager, Edith Delgado, 18, was allegedly racing her white 1998 Ford Mustang at speeds up to 100 mph (161 kph) on a highway around 9 p.m. Wednesday (0400 GMT Thursday) when she tried to pass the SUV carrying the royal couple, the Associated Press quoted CHP Officer Ricky Franklin as saying.

   Delgado's car slammed into the driver's side of the Explorer, causing it to swerve across several lanes before tumbling to a stop on its roof, Franklin said.

   Tonga's Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Vainga Tone, said Friday that officials were awaiting an autopsy report before they could make an official announcement.

    Tonga, with a population of about 108,000, is a 170-island archipelago about halfway between Australia and Tahiti.

   Tu'ipelehake, a nephew of 88-year-old King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, was the leading reformist in the royal family. He was head of a national committee studying democratic reforms for the kingdom. Enditem

(Agencies)