Who was Sione Veikoso? Tributes pour in as BYU football player dies in tragic accident 

Sione Veikoso, an offensive lineman on the BYU Cougars football team of Brigham Young University, died on Friday, December 30, 2022, in a construction accident in his hometown, Hawaii. The football team announced the tragic news of his death on Saturday morning, December 31.

The Honolulu Fire Department stated that Sione was visiting Kailua, his native town in Hawaii, when he was trapped under a 15-foot retaining rock wall at a construction site along with two other men. Immediately, emergency services were called to the scene. While the other two were injured and taken to the hospital, Sione Veikoso was pronounced dead.

When the wall collapsed, several other workers were trapped in the debris. However, what caused the accident has still not been determined.

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The Brigham Young University football team is deeply bereaved by Sione Veikoso's sudden passing

Sione’s relatives, teammates, and friends are mourning the 6ft 7 inches tall footballer’s untimely and accidental passing.

The BYU Football team shared a heartfelt message on Sione’s death on Twitter:

"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."

Kalani Sitake, the head coach of the BYU football team, quoted tweeted the team’s tweet and wrote:

Sione’s cousin, Josh Kava, said that Sione loved his parents and was a reliable and caring gentle giant.

Tom Holmoe, the athletics director at BYU, wrote on Twitter that the football family at Brigham Young University mourns the passing of Sione Veikoso, a fellow Cougar and a dear teammate. Holmoe extended his love and support for Sione's family and friends at such a difficult time. He concluded his message with the following:

“Peace be with you now and forever Sione.”

Maxwell Tooley, a teammate of Sione's who also plays for the BYU Cougar, expressed his grief on Twitter. He addressed Sione as a "genuine friend" and one of the "nicest guys" he had ever met.

As per the Honolulu Fire Department’s acting fire chief, among the rubble at the spot where Sione died, there was a lot of red dirt and heavy blue gravel, which the rescue teams had to remove. The fire department said they were unsure if work was being done specifically on the wall to have caused it to fall.

22-year-old Sione Veikoso trained to be an athlete at Hawaii’s Kailua High School. From 2018 to 2020, Sione served a full-time mission for Manaus’s The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil.

Sione Veikoso (Imgae via NCAA, Sun Devils)

He played at Arizona State for a year until July 2021. There, he participated in one game for the Sun Devils as a redshirt freshman. He later transferred to Brigham Young University.