Four killed as BMW crashes in police chase
FOUR young men died early yesterday after their car veered out of control and smashed into a tree during a police chase.
Neighbours reported hearing a huge bang and video footage posted on social media showed the front of the grey BMW obliterated by the impact.
Officers attempted to resuscitate two of the men at the scene in Bradford and a third was cut free by firefighters.
The BMW, bought new only two weeks ago, was being pursued by an unmarked vehicle at 5.30am when the driver lost control. West Yorkshire Police later confirmed that all four men had died.
Last night three were named on social media as Murthza Chaudhry, 22, Zeeshan ‘Ziggy’ Khalid, 20, and Arbaz Hussain, 21. The fourth was identified only as Tayyub. At the family home in Bradford last night, Mr Chaudhry’s heartbroken father Istfar Iqbal, 40, confirmed that his ‘polite and quiet’ son was among the dead.
Mr Iqbal, who raised his son alone from the age of 11, said: ‘I woke up about eight o’clock.
‘I came downstairs and my mum was crying. She said, “Your son is dead”. I said, “What are you talking about?” I don’t know how it happened. I don’t know what he was doing with friends at that time in the morning.
‘Normally he would be home before midnight. I would always keep an eye on him. I can’t believe what has happened.’
Mr Iqbal added: ‘It was his BMW – he had just bought it brand new. He has only had it about two weeks. He was just a happy little lad. He was so happy he had friends everywhere. He was a polite and quiet lad.
‘I used to say to him, “Don’t stay out too long because you don’t want to be getting into trouble”.
‘He was only young. He was my only son and I am heartbroken.’
The scene was visited by Mr Chaudhry’s cousin Faisal Ali, 23, who said: ‘He was a young lad enjoying life. He was an outgoing lad. He had just come out college, he had his life ahead of him.’
Locals said driving at night along Bingley Road, where the crash happened, was ‘crazy’ and it was treated like ‘a race track’.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed that the Independent Office for Police Conduct was investigating.
A spokesman for the watchdog said the BMW was being driven ‘at speed’ when it was spotted by the officers who gave chase. The car crashed shortly after. The officers involved were being treated as witnesses, the spokesman added.