'She was my baby, my small girl': Father of Dlava Mohamed speaks of grief following fatal crash
Dlava received a traditional Muslim funeral at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in south Dublin this afternoon.
The father of Dlava Mohamed who was killed in a car crash on Monday said he is “heartbroken” over her death.
Hohamed Mohamed spoke with the as he prepared to lay his youngest child to rest this afternoon.
The 16-year-old schoolgirl died alongside her best friend Kiea McCann, 17, whose funeral is also taking place today in her hometown of Clones.
Both girls were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the N54 at around 6.45pm on Monday night after the car they were travelling in hit a tree.
Dlava received a traditional Muslim funeral at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in south Dublin this afternoon.
Her father said he was “shocked and heartbroken” over her tragic passing in the road crash which also involved his other daughter Avuin, 18, who is being treated at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
Speaking with the help of a family friend and spokesperson for the centre, Dr Ali Selim, Hohamed said: “She was my baby, my small girl, the baby of the house. We have five girls and two boys; she is my baby."
He said that his eldest daughter is currently in Lebanon and they are trying to bring her to Ireland.
"I really need my eldest to come here... We are not together as the full family."
Hohamed said: "My baby, she is beautiful. Now, I have four girls and not five. My little girl, she is in there (the mortuary) now."
Dlava’s white coffin was brought back to her home last night where she was among family and friends.
"She came home to the house last night where we pray for her with her friends. Now today, we bring her to rest with the Muslim community," her father said ahead of the funeral.
“She had many friends. She had a part-time job and she worked hard in school and then took care of the babies, all her relatives and their children, she minded them. She cared for everyone.
“Her mother, my wife, she is so sad, our hearts are broken."
Hohamed said he had also received news about his daughter Auin, who was rushed to Cavan General Hospital after the crash where her condition was described as critical.
She was then transferred to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin for treatment.
“We received some news today”, he said. “It is a hard time.
Hohamed took the time to thank the Clones community and others around the country who have offered their sympathies and support in recent days.
“We are happy here, all the people have given us so much love and support and we thank them all. We are so sad, so very sad for Kiea, our daughter’s best friend."
He added: "We just want the people to know in Ireland that we are so grateful to them all."
Kiea is being laid to rest this afternoon in Mount St Oliver’s Cemetery in Clones following her funeral mass in the Sacred Heart Chapel in the town at 2pm.
Hohamed told of his wife, Zenab's grief saying: "My wife, she is in there now with my child, it's much sadness, and the shock and the pain in the heart. It is a hard time, it is difficult to explain."
Hohamed and his family described how they received a phone call on Monday evening explaining that their daughter had been pronounced dead on the N54 in Monaghan after the crash.
"We were at work and we got a phone call. We closed the shop, and we go straight to the hospital. We were not there at the scene; we went straight to the hospital because they said they had taken them to the hospital."
He said that people all around the town were there to offer their help.
Dlava had big dreams even though she was just 16, her father said.
She was around 11 years old when the family fled the Syrian war in 2018 and moved to Clones in Co Monaghan where they settled.
Hohamed and Zenab have two boys, Mostafa and Rashid, and girls Lilov, Asmahan, Auin, Giham and as well as their late daughter, Dlava.
The family arrived at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in south Dublin this morning with their family and friends.
Muslims from all over the country arrived to support the family at the mosque while school friends from Largy College in Clones wore their school uniforms to the service.
Construction workers working opposite the mosque downed tools and stood on the side of the road directly opposite the mosque in a mark of respect as the hearse passed by.
The family were accompanied by Dr Ali Selim from the ICCI who told the it is a “devasting time”.
“This family came to Ireland in search of protection, and they were not here long when they lost their beloved daughter," he said.
The family are devastated but also in a great deal of shock, he added.
"Their father is being strong right now, but it is going to be a very difficult time going forward."
They have been kept busy organising the funeral and have the support of their community around them but the real sadness will come after, said Dr Selim.
"When they go home and it's time for dinner and Dlava is not there at the table and when they go to her room and she is not there, that’s the real challenge.
Not only have they lost one daughter, they do not know what will happen to Auin and they will need support as they cope will all that is to come, Dr Selim said.
"We have received a number of emails messages from the wider community asking if they can support this family in any way," he said.
"Even today we have been offered parking spaces from businesses nearby. Everyone is supportive. This is what the family will need going forward."
Dr Selim said it is traditional for the deceased loved one to be carried in their coffin by men.
He said: “The women will wash Dlava and shroud her in line with Muslim tradition and the men will carry the coffin.
"We will have the service this afternoon, a short prayer service and then she will be buried in Newcastle a cemetery for Muslims."
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the surge in road deaths in Ireland this year is more than just a setback and said additional resources would be provided to the Road Safety Authority and for road maintenance.
One hundred people have been killed here in the first half of the year, a 33% increase on 2019 levels and the highest number in six years.
Speaking as the funerals take place today of Monaghan teenagers Kiea McCann and Dlava Mohamed, Mr Varadkar said he was greatly concerned by what is an “enormous” increase in road fatalities.
“I am a former Minister for Transport and someone who has lost a family member in a road traffic collision," he said.
"We have made phenomenal progress over the past 20 or 30 years in Ireland to reduce the number of road deaths. But what we are seeing this year is not just a setback, it is a pretty enormous increase in the number of road deaths.
“There will be additional resources for the road safety authority and additional resources for road maintenance. We would encourage people to be safe on the road.
"There was a time when nearly 600 people every year died on roads in Ireland. I don’t want us to go back to that.”
The Taoiseach extended his condolences and sympathies to both families and to the community in Clones.
“The debs is one of those special occasions in our lives. It’s a rite of passage that marks the transition from being a school child to being a young adult.
"It’s a time filled with opportunity and boundless hope. For these young lives to be cut short in such an untimely way and tragic manner has gripped the nation,” he said.
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