• Friday, March 29, 2024

HEADLINE STORY

Families pay tribute to Birmingham crash victims

By: SairahMasud

By Sairah Masud

FAMILY members have paid tributes to those who lost their lives in a horrific crash in Birmingham last Sunday (17).

Six people died and one is being treated for critical injuries in hospital after the accident that took place in the early hours of Sunday.

The driver of a taxi involved in the crash, Imtiaz Mohammed, 33, was a father of six, and on his last job for the day. The two passengers he was carrying, identified as Lucy Davis, 43, and Lee Jenkins, 42, also lost their lives.

Davies, a sign language interpreter, and Jenkins, a scientist at University Hospital Birmingham, died instantly at the scene.

Lucy Davis and Lee Jenkins were travelling in the back of the taxi when it collided

The couple had been for dinner with friends and were in the back of the cab when it was hit by the Audi S3 after it careered across the central reservation.

Mohammed, described by his bereaved family as a “happy, loving and friendly guy”, had let his wife know that he was heading home to her and their children. He was due to celebrate his daughter’s fourth birthday only days later.

Mohammed’s father, Ikhtiar Mohammed, 65, said his “heart sank” when the police informed him of his son’s death at 5am the same morning.

He said: “I knew there was something wrong as soon as I saw them. I thought to myself: ‘Which of my sons is hurt?’, I knew something was seriously wrong.”

‘Loved and respected by all who worked with him’: Taxi driver, Imtiaz Mohammed

The taxi driver’s older sister, Nassrin Bibi, paid tribute to her brother and said the family had been “shattered” by what had happened.

A spokeswoman for Castle Cars, which employed Mohammed, said: “Imtiaz was a wonderful young hard-working family man.

“He was loved and respected by all who worked with him and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all the other families affected by this tragedy.”

A convicted drug dealer who was recently released from prison was among the fatalities.

Kasar Jehangir, 25, was one of the three men killed after being thrown from an Audi S3 during the collision with a taxi near the city centre at 1.10am.

25-year-old Kasar Jehangir was among the fatalities

 

He was accompanied by Mohammed Fasha, 30, and 26-year-old Tauqeer Hussain. A fourth passenger, identified as 22-year-old Zakkria Khan, remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Jehangir was jailed in November 2016 for 36 months after being involved in a 120mph police chase, which saw heroin being thrown out of the window of the same car in which he died in, along the M6 near Walsall in 2015.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and possession of class A drugs with intent to supply at Birmingham crown court. He had recently been allowed home after being eligible for an early release with conditions of a curfew.

Fahsa’s brother, Mohammed Kasir, 32, said: “Words cannot describe how we feel. It’s obviously an incredibly sad time for the whole family, as you can imagine. He was an incredible family man; he loved his family to bits. He was just a normal guy.”

Mohammed Fasha (left) and Tauqeer Hussain

Zakkria’s mother Naheed Khan, 59, has denied claims that the group were racing or speeding in the car.

She said: “Zakk was saving up to buy his own car. I don’t know who was driving or whose car it was, but I know they were not racing anybody.

Naheed said a friend of hers saw Zakk, a forklift driver, in the back of the car when it drove past shortly before the accident. “She said it was driving normally and wasn’t racing. They must have been on their way home when it happened.”

22-year-old Zakkria Khan remains in a serious but stable condition

Sergeant Alan Hands, from the force’s Collision Investigation Unit, said: “We are still keen to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time and has not yet spoken to us.

“We are still trying to establish exactly what happened and our thoughts remain with the families who have lost-loved ones.

“We are aware of distressing images of the scene circulating on social media and would ask the public to not share them and instead pass any footage to us to assist our investigation.”

Anyone with information can call the Collision Investigation Unit on 101; quoting log 175 of 17/12.

[TheChamp-Sharing]

Related Stories