Second tragedy for M-way death crash family

The parents of two young sisters who were killed in a horrific motorway crash on Britain's M25 early today also lost a son in a road accident eight years ago, it has emerged.

Moneeba Bint Rafiq, eight, and Sadiyah Bint Rafiq, 12, both of Manor Park, east London, died when the Fiat van in which they were travelling overturned on the clockwise M25 at about 3am.

The girls, who were returning from celebrating their eldest sister’s wedding anniversary in the West Midlands, were thrown “some distance” from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

A family friend, named as Neville Phillips, of Beckton, east London, was also killed while the sisters’ 25-year-old brother Amjad was critically injured.

He was understood to be driving the van and was taken to Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield, where he was described as being in a stable condition.

Relatives of the girls revealed later that their father Younis and mother Rukhsana had previously lost a young son in a car accident.

Speaking about the tragedy, a cousin of Mr Bint Rafiq, Sajid Khan, said: “Eight years ago, the girls’ youngest brother died in a car accident.

“In the space of eight years, they’ve now lost three children. All the bad memories have come back.”

Mr Khan, 29, said that the girls were travelling back from Walsall when the accident happened as they travelled east on the motorway which rings the capital.

Sadiyah is believed to have been a pupil at Plashet School, a community school for girls aged 11-16 near her home, while Moneeba is thought to have attended a local primary school in the East Ham area.

They were the youngest of five sisters and one brother.

“They were the babies of the family,” added Mr Khan. “They were very pretty girls. Their mother is beautiful.”

Relatives of the girls were tonight comforting their immediate family, who were not available for comment.

Another cousin of the girls’ father, Imran Javed, 22, said he drove the family down from Walsall when they heard about the accident.

“We left early in the morning as soon as we got the news. The girls had been staying at their sister’s for a week. Now the house will be empty and lonely,” he said

Another relative, who gave his name only as Osman, 17, said: “They were very smart and intelligent girls.

“I was shocked when my sister told me. I can’t get it to sink in. We are all upset.”

Initial investigations suggested that the van veered from the third lane of the motorway across to the hard shoulder and overturned on a grass embankment.

No other vehicle is believed to have been involved.

The crash caused chaos to the morning’s rush-hour traffic as police closed the clockwise carriageway of the M25 between junctions 24 and 25, near Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, until shortly before midday.

At one stage queues were tailing back as far as junction 22, the St Albans exit.