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Suleman Din in New York
Six members of a Hyderabadi family, who were travelling from their home in Fridley, Minnesota, to examine prospects of starting a new life in California, were killed in an accident in Wyoming on Saturday, November 9.
Highway patrol authorities say that the 1995 Plymouth Voyager driven by Ghulam M Khan (43) spun out of control on black ice and stopped on the right shoulder of the Interstate Highway 80, about 45 miles west of Laramie, at around 7:30 am local time.
A nearby semi-trailer truck had switched lanes in an attempt to make room for the van, then jack-knifed and struck it. The van was crushed and four of its occupants were thrown outside. No one was wearing a seatbelt.
Khan, his wife Ayesha (31), sons Mohammed (15) and Suman (8), mother-in-law Zanab (66) and brother-in-law Mohammed Abubaker Kamal Khan (29) were killed.
The truck driver, Diane Drake (30) of Claremore, Oklahoma, was treated and released. She was cited for driving too fast for conditions.
The family was travelling to San Diego, California, to visit relatives and see if they could establish themselves out there. They were enticed by the warmer weather and opportunities to do business in Los Angeles, where there are a lot of Indians.
The family had left after Friday prayers at a local mosque and relatives say they were fasting at the time for Ramadan.
All except Mohammed Abubaker Kamal Khan had recently come back from a five-month visit to India. The family had immigrated to the US a decade ago.
Ghouse Khan, the uncle of Ayesha, told rediff.com that the family was devastated. "It was Allah's will, and it happened," he said.
He said his family members were martyrs because they died during Ramadan.
Burial is on Thursday afternoon at the Islamic Centre of Minnesota-Columbia Heights.
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