The Sunday Telegraph

Woman dies in 40ft fall after escaping from exploding car

- By Callum Adams

A LONDON School of Economics graduate died falling 40ft from a road after she escaped from a car which had “exploded” on the carriagewa­y.

Azra Kemal, 24, was said to be desperatel­y seeking help on the A21 in the early hours of Thursday morning when she plunged through a void between two lanes of traffic.

The law student climbed the barriers in the dark believing there would be a central reservatio­n moments before she fell to the ground, her family said.

She was declared dead around

3.20am.

Her mother Nevres Kemal, 56, claimed that her daughter’s last words to rescuers were “please don’t let me die” after she fled from the burning vehicle.

The 24-year-old, who was due to start a law practice course this year, was thought to be on her way home to North London from a night out with friends when the car’s engine burst into flames on the carriagewa­y.

Ms Kemal told MailOnline: “They got out of the car and moved away from the car. Then it exploded.

“They were trying to wave people down and also they crossed the central reservatio­n.

“She climbed up and there was no concrete. This reservatio­n was not there.

“It was pitch black so she has fallen 40 feet to the earth.”

Ms Kemal has questioned why there were no “lights or signs” on the twospan bridge following her daughter’s death.

Known as the Medway Viaduct, the section of A21 has one bridge for southbound traffic and a separate second bridge for London-bound traffic around 10ft apart.

A Kent Police spokesman said: “Detectives investigat­ing the circumstan­ces around the death of a woman who fell from a bridge on the A21 are satisfied there are no suspicious circumstan­ces and are now preparing a report for the coroner.

“The woman, who was 24 and from London, is understood to have fallen while seeking assistance after a car she was travelling in caught alight.”

 ??  ?? Azra Kemal, 24, fell through the gap on the two-span bridge on the A21
Azra Kemal, 24, fell through the gap on the two-span bridge on the A21

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