5 Students Of Minneapolis’ Muslim Community Pronounced Dead In Fatal Car Crash

The Muslim community in Minneapolis is mourning the lives of five women killed in a fatal car crash on June 16, USA Today reports.

The women—Salma Mohamed Abdikadir, Sahra Liban Gesaade, Sagal Burhaan Hersi, Siham Adan Odhowa, and Sabiriin Mohamoud Ali—were all under the age of 21 and were pronounced dead at the crash scene after a driver ran a red light and slammed into their vehicle. The driver was identified as Derrick Thompson, who was seen speeding on Interstate 35 by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper who wasn’t able to give him a ticket in time as he exited the highway. “The vehicle then proceeded through a red light at the intersection of Lake Street and 2nd Avenue and crashed into another vehicle occupied by four adult females and one juvenile female,” the Minneapolis Police Department said.

The women were enjoying a night out before celebrating a wedding planned for the next day. They all had promising futures; Ali had just graduated from high school and planned to attend the University of Minnesota, where Odhowa was already a student. Abdikadir attended Normandale College, and Gesaade was poised to begin her junior year at the University of Minnesota at Rochester. Hersi was a student attending Minneapolis College, according to CBS News Minnesota.

A fundraiser has already been set up to assist the mourning families of the ladies killed in the crash. To date, the fund has raised close to $430,000. “These were individuals who had a bright future. We’re talking about the pearls,” Dar Al Farooq Center’s Mosque Director Khalid Omar said. “We’re talking about the bright stars of our community,” Omar says the five friends were inseparable and that the healing process is going to take some serious time. “Losing anyone, that’s a tragedy. But losing five young people in a crash at the same time is something that is very hard to process,” Omar said.

According to Associated Press, the person responsible for the crash has a history of hit-and-run as Thompson served time in a California prison for the same crime.