A community is in mourning for the three women and two girls described as “bright stars” who were killed in a speeding hit-and-run incident in Minneapolis on Friday.
The victims were named by their local mosque as Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade, Salma Abdikadir, Sagal Hersi and Siham Adam, who were aged between 17 and 20.
The friends, who were described as being inseparable, had volunteered together at the local mosque and were out preparing for a friend’s wedding the following day, when the tragic crash took place.
One of the young women had just graduated from high school.
“These were individuals who had a bright future,” Dar Al Farooq Center’s Mosque Director Khalid Omar told CBS News. “We’re talking about the pearls. We’re talking about the bright stars of our community.”
“We haven’t seen a tragedy of five young individuals who passed away at the scene at an incident like this,” Omar added. “We’ve never seen something like that before.”
The car that slammed into the women’s vehicle was seen driving at speeds of around 95mph and running through a red light at around 10.35pm on Friday night, the MailOnline reported.
Minneapolis City Council Member Jamal Osman was informed about the crash, and told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the driver hit the women hard enough to push their car 50 feet.
“It’s heartbreaking. These girls had a lot of life ahead of them,” he told the paper.
The driver is believed to have been spotted by a police officer, who was unable to pull him over before the fatal crash occurred.
Some of the women had reportedly been on calls with their mothers less than 20 minutes before the accident.
Following the incident, the driver fled the scene on foot and was eventually apprehended by authorities at a nearby Taco Bell. He was taken to hospital to be treated for injuries sustained during the crash and was tested for drugs and alcohol.
Police have not officially named the suspect at this time.
“I hope they try everything they can to bring justice to this family and this community,” Mr Osman said, noting the recent uptick in reckless driving tragedies. “I talked to the chief and said, ‘Something has to be done. We gotta make sure we’re enforcing the traffic laws.’ “
A fundraiser set up for the families of the victims in the wake of the crash has raised almost £300,000, and funerals for the women are set to take place on Monday.
“These young Muslim sisters, were shining stars of hope for our future. Unfortunately, their lives were cut short last night by a driver evading the police,” the fundraising page said.
