Six people have died, one critical and fighting for their life, while six others have been injured in a late-night crash in Birmingham in the early hours of Sunday 17th December.
Six cars were involved in the crash on Lee Bank and Belgrave Middleway which is a 40mph dual carriageway shortly after 1am on Sunday.
Police have stated that there many factors under investigation for this crash, including poor visibility, excessive speed, and failure to wear seatbelts.
West Midlands police described the scene as “harrowing”, as victims were thrown from their vehicles in the crash.
One of the victims named was taxi driver Imtiaz Mohammed, 33, from Small Heath. It is said that the father-of-six had been on his last shift when the crash took place. He would have been celebrating his daughter's 4th birthday the following day. A 43-year-old female passenger who was in his taxi died in the crash, while a 42-year-old male passenger died later in hospital.
Imtiaz Mohammed's father, Ihktiar Mohammed shared, “I am very sad, this is a tragedy for everyone- for my family and also for the other families as well.”
Another person who died in a crash had previously been jailed after being caught by the police in a 120mph car chase. 25-year-old Kasar Jehangir of Bordesley Green, Birmingham, was one of the three men killed in a black Audi S3. Jehnagir was thrown far from his car in the crash, along with his friends, Tauqeer Hussain, 26, and Mohammed Fasha, 30, who also died. Hussain and Tasha lived in Small Heath. A 22-year-old man who was also a passenger in the Audi is in a critical condition in hospital. One of Fasha's neighbours stated, I used to see him [Mohammed Fasha] driving past my house in a variety of cars. There is a fast car culture around here.”
Fasha's brother, Mohammed Kasir, 32, expressed, “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. At the time he was going around with his mates, minding his own business. It’s impossible to accept what has happened.”
The taxi driver Imtiaz Mohammed had died on the spot when his seven-seater black taxi was hit head on by the Audi.
Kasar Jehangir was arrested in July 2016, after the police began monitoring his car. As the police tried to pull his car over, Jehangir, accelerated his car down the M6 at 120mph, while occupants allegedly threw heroin out of the vehicle windows. He was jailed for 36 months in November 2016, however, was released on home detention curfew. His home detention curfew ended on 12th December 2017. Curfews usually requires the prisoner to stay at their residential address between 7pm and 7am and if they fail to do so, their electronic tag will alert private contractors.
Furthermore, the police force has criticised passersby who took photographs of the crash and posted them on Facebook. The social networking site was also criticised for refusing to remove the images from their website as they didn't “go against any of our specific community standards”. Superintendent Sean Phillips has urged people to send images to the police rather than sharing them on social media. He said, “There are families involved, real people. It is very distressing for everyone. I would urge people not to share images that would portray something that is perhaps unwelcome. [The photographs] might help us piece together what happened.”
