West Sacramento Family Grieves The Loss Of Loved Ones In Deadly Crash
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Afzili family is beyond heartbroken after a head-on crash late Monday night claimed the lives of Naeema Afzili's brother Rasul and her sister-in-law Anila.
"He was one light away from his house," Naeema Afzili said.
A family member called Afzili saying they recognized her brother's car in the crash.
"I ran out of the house wearing someone else's shoes with no jacket," Afzili said.
Witnesses couldn't believe the aftermath.
"We saw the truck with smoke and people being loaded in the ambulance," Alina Karakay, who witnessed the crash aftermath, said.
West Sacramento Police told CBS13 that investigators are still determining if the driver who caused the crash was under the influence at the time.
Afzili told CBS13 her brother was still in the car when she and her family got to the scene of the crash. The couple's two young children, three-year-old Jannah and seven-month-old Azzan, were also in the car.
Afzili said the children and their mother were taken to UC Davis Medical Center and she quickly rushed over as well.
"When I was there, my daughter called my other daughter and said we don't have an uncle anymore," Afzili said. "And she was yelling, and that's how I found out my brother was dead."
Afzili then told CBS13 that tragedy struck again soon after when her sister-in-law was pronounced dead at the hospital.
"I had to call her parents in Pakistan because I didn't want them to find out through social media that they lost their beautiful angel that they gave us," Afzili said.
An angel that Afzili's brother said he couldn't live without.
"And, God knew that. God got that message. And that why God took them together because they couldn't live without each other," Afzili said.
The couple's children survived the crash. Their daughter is still in the hospital.
"The daughter is in the hospital with a broken femur, a broken arm and injury to her head," Afzili said.
The infant was uninjured, yet still wanting his mother.
"Then I walked back in with a hijab exactly like his mom and he thought it was his mom. And he was kissing me. He was so excited. He wouldn't go to anybody else, just because I put a headscarf on like his mother," Afzili said.
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As this family grieves during this sudden loss, they plan to raise these young children how their kind-hearted parents planned to do.
"She wanted them to be raised to be good Muslims and to be good people and that's how I'm going to raise them," Afzili said.
The family and friends have created a fundraiser for the couple's children during this troubling time.
