Father tells of fight to save son after three killed by car

A DEVASTATED father spoke of how he tried to save his dying son after he was knocked down by a hit-and-run-driver as he “protected his community from looters”.

Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Abdul Nasir, 31, and Shazad Ali, 30, were killed following the incident in Birmingham on Tuesday night.

Police said they had arrested a 32-year-old man and launched a murder inquiry after the three Asian men died when they were hit by the speeding car.

Tariq Jahan, father of Haroon, urged locals not to take revenge and called for the law to be allowed to take its course.

“I don’t blame the government, I don’t blame the police, I don’t blame nobody,” he said.

“I’m a Muslim, I believe in divine fate and destiny, and it was his destiny and his fate, and now he’s gone.”

Tariq said he performed CPR on his son after he was knocked down.

“I didn’t see it [the fatal incident] with my own eyes. I was round the corner... I heard the car coming at high speed.

“Then we heard the bang and I heard the commotion with the people. I ran towards the commotion and the first guy I found was someone I didn’t know.

“I started giving him CPR until somebody pointed out that the guy behind me was my son on the floor.

“Then I swapped positions and started giving him CPR.”

“My face was covered in blood, my hands were covered in blood.”

Witnesses said the men had just come out of a mosque and were protecting their neighbourhood shops from rioters.

“They lost their lives for other people, doing the job of the police,” Mohammed Shakiel said outside the hospital where the men were taken, prompting around 200 people to gather in support.

Police said they had arrested a man and launched a murder inquiry after the incident, which happened at around 1am as Britain’s second-largest city suffered another night of riots.

Paramedics said they found around 80 people at the scene after the men were hit by the car. Two of the men were pronounced dead at the scene, while the third died later in hospital.

Witnesses said the victims were part of a group protecting the area from looting after local people had left a local mosque.

“People came out of prayers and they were protecting the area. My friends were targeted — they were standing on the side of the road and the car just came and ran them over,” witness Kabir Khan Isakhel said.

Another witness said the incident happened after a car was set ablaze in a nearby street and youths gathered, prompting local people to defend a local shopping area.

Several cars drove past the group as it was guarding the stores and the occupants shouted abuse before one vehicle returned and mounted the pavement at “tremendous speed” and hit the men, throwing them into the air, Shakiel said.

Mr Jahan said: “He had his whole life ahead of him. It makes no sense why people are behaving like this and taking the lives of three innocent people.”

Mr Jahan, who has two other children, said: “He was trying to help his community and he has been killed.

“He was a very well- liked kid — I can’t describe to anybody what it feels like to lose a son.

“He was the youngest, and anything I ever wanted done, I would always ask Haroon to sort it out for me.”

He also appealed for there to be no revenge for his son’s death: “It’s already bad enough what we are seeing on the streets now without other people taking the law into their own hands.”