Friends pay tribute to Ilford man who died when car crashed into tree

A young man who came to London as a child refugee from Afghanistan died in a horror car crash just weeks after gaining permanent residency, his heartbroken friends said today.

Jamal Ahmed, 22, was driving with two passengers in Green Lane, Ilford, when his blue Ford Fiesta veered into a tree at the roadside.

The three men were rushed to the Royal London Hospital at about 1.30am on Sunday, but Mr Ahmed later died from his injuries.

His cousin said police told him they believed the car was travelling it three times the 30mph speed limit on the street, which is a mix of shops, restaurants and family homes.

The two teenage passengers were today being treated in hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Friends of Mr Ahmed paid tribute to the “funny” young man and talented cricketer, who worked as an estate agent and had recently been granted residency ten years after arriving in the UK seeking asylum. It is understood he had recently become engaged.

Members of Ilford’s Afghani community are now trying to raise money to repatriate his body back to his family in the rural Laghman Province.

Rafiullah Niazi, 24, who is orchestrating the fundraising effort from his phone repair shop Khan’s Communications, said: “He was a good friend. He had been here for a long time, so he knew everyone. The whole of Ilford knew him.

“He always came into the shop, we played cricket every Wednesday – he was very good.

“When I first heard about the crash I ran down there, but I couldn’t do anything. I was shocked.”

Harrowing photos of the crash site showed the mangled wreckage of the blue Ford Fiesta. Emergency services were forced to cut the roof off the car to free the three occupants.

Mr Niazi said he had promised to accompany Mr Ahmed’s body back to Afghanistan, adding: “I called all my family and friends to raise money, it doesn’t matter where they are from – even my customers.

“Any extra money I will give to his family, they might need it.”

Mr Niazi’s cousin Zameer Stanikzai, 19, who works in Khan’s Communications in Gants Hill, described Mr Ahmed as “funny and friendly with everyone”.

He added: “We played cricket, he was always joking around with everyone and he was always helping anyone who had problems.

“He knew a lot of stuff about this country because he had been here for a long time, telling the youngers to be good, giving them instructions. Even to me he was like that. “

Mr Stanikzai, who arrived in the UK from Afghanistan in 2012, said he did not know why his friend was speeding before the fatal crash, but added: “I think he was overtaking another vehicle. I don’t know what happened. One of the guys said the car just went and he couldn’t control it.

“The police confirmed the car was travelling at more than 100 miles per hour.”

Another friend said: “On the night he died, his mum in Afghanistan had a dream that he passed away. But what she didn’t know is that it happened for real.”

A Met Police spokesman said: “Police are in the process of informing next of kin.

“A post mortem examination will be arranged in due course.

“Enquiries continue and there have been no arrests.”