The sister of one of the three victims of a car crash in Cardiff has said she feels "heartbroken" and "numb". Ffion Actie spoke to Sky News at a vigil on Tuesday evening in Cardiff held for her brother Rafel Jeanne, 24, and two young women – Eve Smith and Darcy Ross, both 21 and from Newport – who were all killed in the collision just of the A48 near St Mellons.
Another young man and woman who were in the car – Shane Loughlin, 32, from Cardiff, and Sophie Russon, 20, from Newport – are in a critical condition in hospital. Ms Actie said: "I just feel heartbroken – I feel numb to be honest. I don't feel a lot at all. It doesn't feel real. I don't feel like this has actually happened, and maybe with time I'll come to terms with it, but I'm absolutely heartbroken."
Asked what Rafel was like she commended him as a "big character" who was "happy, loving, bubbly, and very, very popular". She also revealed that, tragically, she found out about her brother's death through social media.
Read more: Mum of young woman involved in car crash asks why it took so long to find them
She added that the "hardest thing" about the tragedy was the fact the five of them remained undiscovered for two days until they were found just after midnight on Monday in a wooded area just off the busy road. "That is probably the worst part about it – thinking that they were sat there injured. If it was sooner who knows?" She also said she feels "disappointed that maybe things weren't done sooner" and believes that police "should have acted straightaway".
"I like to think that if [police] got there sooner it would have been a different outcome," she told Sky News. It comes as it was announced on Tuesday that the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched a formal investigation into how missing persons reports submitted over the weekend were dealt with.
Ms Actie was one of hundreds of loved ones, friends, and strangers who attended the vigil for the victims. The atmosphere was sombre and emotional as many lay heartfelt tributes at the scene, adding to the accumulation of balloons, flowers, and cards that people have laid since Monday.
Police closed the road for the vigil which saw a two-minute silence at 6.28pm followed by a balloon release and a firework display that lasted for around 30 minutes. People were tearful and embraced each other as they stood transfixed by the stunning send-off.
Well-wishers were also given colourful smoke flares during the display and at the very end some rode motorbikes and quadbikes through the crowds, revving loudly in tribute to Eve, Darcy and Rafel.
Friends Sophie, Eve, and Darcy had been on a night out at the Muffler bar and club in Maeglas, Newport, on Friday evening before they are thought to have headed to Trecco Bay in Porthcawl. They were with Shane and Rafel and the five had last been seen in the Llanedeyrn area of Cardiff at 2am on Saturday.
But it was just after midnight on Monday that police officers arrived at the scene where the car had crashed off a roundabout on the A48. Over the weekend friends and family had mounted searches for the five as they became increasingly concerned at what they described as out-of-character behaviour. They say there had been no activity on social media and they had not contacted any friends or family since the early hours of Saturday morning.
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