A woman was killed at East 3rd and Orca, where the state mapped a cluster

A woman died Thursday morning after a vehicle struck her at East 3rd Avenue and Orca Street in Anchorage, and the driver did not remain at the scene, the Anchorage Police Department said. Medics declared the adult pedestrian dead at the scene at 8:13 am.

Officers contacted the driver, Anchorage resident Vaiee Samuelu, a short time later. She was booked into the Anchorage Jail on charges of failing to render aid and leaving the scene of a crash. Those charges are allegations. Police are withholding the pedestrian's name until next of kin are notified, and the department's release includes no statement from Samuelu.

The crash happened on the edge of an area the state has already flagged. An Alaska Department of Health epidemiology bulletin published in April counted 92 pedestrian deaths in Anchorage from 2016 through 2025, and mapped them into clusters — 23 in Midtown, and 8 in an East Downtown area the bulletin bounds by East 3rd Avenue to the north. Thursday's crash happened on that northern edge.

The driver fleeing is also part of the pattern. "Driver behaviors included fleeing the scene (30%, 28/92) and speeding (4%, 4/92)," the bulletin said — while noting that behavior data were unavailable whenever a driver fled, meaning 30 percent is a floor.

Last year was the deadliest in the period studied, with 15 deaths, a rate of 5.18 per 100,000 residents. September was the deadliest month, though the bulletin found fatalities concentrated between 11 pm and 2 am.