THIS is the eight-month-old baby killed alongside her parents in a horror fireball smash on the M6.
Baby Lena died with her dad PHD student Karzan Sabah and mum Shahen Qasm when a car travelling the wrong way down the motorway crashed into their family’s vehicle in Galway.
The family were killed in the horrific three-car smash that happened on Thursday on the M6 at Poolboy in Ballinasloe as they returned from a trip to Carlow were they were planning to move.
Members of the Kurdish community in Ireland today held a roadside vigil for the family with the help of local police to show their respect for popular Karzan and his family.
Hiwa Wahab, who is co founder of the Kurdish Nergz Ireland group, told the Sun how the Kurdish community has been left devastated by the tragedy.
He said: “Everyone is so so sad. Every house I talk to it is like there is a funeral in every house since everyone living here sees this and it is so tragic.
“Everyone is so, so sad and everyone is so shocked. People can’t believe it especially with the child involved in this. Everyone is speechless.”
Hiwa runs the Kurdish Nergz Ireland group which helps members of the community and translates news in Ireland and publishes it online in Kurdish so people can keep up with things happening here.
The group have been nominated for a frontline hero award for helping Ireland’s 4,000 strong Kurdish community to keep up with the changes in regulations during the pandemic.
After publishing an article about the Galway crash, Hiwa was contacted by Karzan Sabah’s brother in Iraq who was concerned that Karzan has been involved in the crash because the family had not heard from him in over a day.
Hiwa said: “We went back and forward. We got in touch with the garda station in Ballinasloe and I called the hospital and finally they gave us the bad news that yes the people who are involved in this accident were Karzan and his family.”
Hiwa said Karzan had got a new job as a lecturer and he and his family were on their way home from looking at houses in Carlow when they were killed in the crash.
He said: “I believe they have been in Ireland around four years. They came as a student visa. He was about to finish the PHD in University of Galway.
“He was about to become a lecturer in Carlow. He went to Carlow to look at property to rent and then on his way back to Galway they were involved in this accident.”
Hiwa and his colleagues Haval and Ghafar, who also volunteer with the Kurdish Art Nergz Society, placed flowers and photos at the side of the M6 at Ballinasloe where the crash occurred.
The fourth person killed in the tragic crash was today named as Polish national Jonasz Adam Lach.
It is thought Mr Lach’s vehicle travelled the wrong way down a slip road and onto the dual carriageway and collided head-on with Karzan and his family’s car.
Another motorist, travelling in a third car, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash happened shortly after 7.30pm on Thursday when a car was seen driving towards oncoming traffic on the westbound carriageway of the M6.
A detailed examination of the site by collision investigators has been completed and the cars involved in the crash have been taken from the scene for further analysis.
Investigators have renewed their appeal for information and are calling on any road users who may have camera footage, and were travelling on the same stretch of road at Poolboy in Ballinasloe between 7.20pm and 7.50pm to make it available to police.
A number of motorists in the vicinity of the smash fled their vehicles and rushed to the damaged vehicles in a bid to help those inside.
A bus travelling from Dublin to Galway also arrived on the scene within minutes and two male passengers rushed to help.
