‘Donuts’ & death
2 crash vics, from Azerbaijan, buried Monday
Friends and family on Monday grieved for a pair of high school sweethearts and a younger brother who each died after a gruesome crash at Floyd Bennet Field.
Emil Badalov, 16, his girlfriend Margarita Sidgiyayeva, 18, and her 11-year-old brother Daniel Sidgiyayeva were killed Saturday night after their 2014 Kia Forte slammed into a 2020 Toyota Camry carrying three other teens on a vacant lot at the airfield.
Both cars were doing “donuts,” police said — a circular maneuver that sent the cars skidding into one another.
The Sidgiyayeva siblings — who moved from Azerbaijan in recent years and refer to themselves “Mountain Jews” — were buried Monday afternoon, according to members of the Azerbaijan New York Association in Brooklyn.
Another teen riding in the Kia Forte, Ramazan Huseynov, 17, was in critical condition Sunday at NYU Langone g Hospital in Brooklyn.
The driver of the Toyota Camry, Tamirlan Abylkhnov, 16, and passengers Timur Badalov, 18, and Aleina Vyksiuk, 16, all suffered minor injuries.
“She is good,” Vyksiuk’s father told the Daily News on Monday, adding that she is out of the hospital and recovering.
Margarita and Emil both went to James Madison High School, and were dating, schoolmates said.
Timur Badalov — who is related to Emil — posted a photo of the young couple on Facebook bearing the words, “Rest in Peace.”
Teacher Steven Herbst also wrote on Facebook that he had Margarita in class, and called her one of his “sweetest students.”
“I am heartbroken over the loss of Margarita Sidgiyayeva. She was one of the sweetest students I’d ever known,” he wrote. “She excelled in chemistry and I proudly wrote her a recommendation for LIU Pharmacy to which she was accepted and scheduled to begin this fall.”
“I cannot begin to understand the pain their family must be feeling right now and my condolences go out to them,” he continued.
Nearly $52,000 was raised to help pay for the Sidgiyayevas’ funeral expenses, according g to a GoFundMe page. A separate fund-raiser collected over $19,000 for Emil Badalov.
Emil Badalov was doing donuts at North 40 Runway at Floyd Bennett Field in Marine Park when Abylkhnov, who was driving the Camry, smashed into him, cops said. Police arrived at the devastating wreck at around 8:15 p.m. Saturday.
Emil Badalov took his father’s car Saturday night without his father’s knowledge, a source told The News.
“It’s a very, very sad accident,” said Azerbaijan New York Association President Ercan Yerdelenli. “It’s a real tragedy.”