M5 crash man woke to find brother had died
A fruit packer from the Black Country who cheated death in an M5 horror crash has told how he blacked out and woke up in hospital to discover his brother had died.
A fruit packer from the Black Country who cheated death in an M5 horror crash has told how he blacked out and woke up in hospital to discover his brother had died.
Ashfaq Ahmed, from Smethwick, was a passenger in a coach destined for Evesham when it was in collision with a lorry in foggy conditions.
The 29-year-old was one of 40 people injured, escaping with cuts and bruises, but his brother, Liaquat Ali and the lorry driver died.
"Liaquat was by the window and I was sitting next to him," said Mr Ahmed, of Shireland Road. "We were talking about family but I can't remember what.
"Then, as soon as it crashed, my eyes shut. I did not see anything."
Mr Ahmed said when he regained consciousness he was in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
"Someone told me my brother had died. I was very upset," said Mr Ahmed. "He was a very good person and a hard worker.
"He was a good father. He was one of the most important people in my life."
Mr Ahmed said Mr Ali, of Trafalgar Road, Smethwick, left a widow Fozia Shaheen and children Shafqat Ali, aged nine, Mohammed Owais Ali, two, and Kashish Eman, six.
The crash on Saturday near Halesowen also claimed the life of 65-year-old lorry driver, William Mapstone, of Wells in Somerset. Witnesses to the incident are asked to call police on 101.
