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Olyad Suleiman died on Tuesday night – until Thursday afternoon his parents still did not know where their son’s body was.
The scene of a fatal crash at the intersection of 10th Avenue and 6th Street in New Westminster on July 27. Photo by Shane MacKichan /jpg
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A heartbroken East Vancouver family could not find out Thursday afternoon where their son’s body was or when they could take him for burial.
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Being Muslim, their religion calls for burial as soon as possible, and their boy died Tuesday after his Toyota Yaris was hit by someone fleeing Metro Vancouver transit police.
Olyad Suleiman had just graduated from Britannia High School and had a $50,000 scholarship to attend the University of British Columbia in the fall.
He and an unidentified passenger were returning from a soccer game and were stopped at a red light when a Nissan Altima, which had passed a traffic stop at 10th Avenue and 6th Street in New Westminster, crashed into their car around 11 p.m.
Suleiman and his fellow soccer player/passenger were pronounced dead at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Suleiman’s family, however, had not yet seen their boy’s body, still did not know as of Thursday afternoon where their son’s body even was.
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Olyad Suleiman (second from left) next to his mother, Chaltu (left) and little sister on the right. The woman on the right is a friend. Oliad Suleiman was killed after the car he was in was hit by a vehicle fleeing Metro Vancouver Transit Police near the Burnaby-New Westminster border on July 27, 2022. Photo courtesy of family, photo author Abdi Suleiman. Photo by Abdi Suleiman /jpg
“Nobody has come to help them or even explain to the family what’s going on, where the son is,” said Ariadna Armond, Suleiman’s neighbor, Thursday afternoon. “The mother is devastated, there are no victim services, no one came.
“He was a very good kid, a very good role model for the youth in the community.”
Olyad was the eldest of seven children. The family lives in the Strathcona neighborhood after immigrating from Kenya six years ago.
“The family only knows what they saw on the news,” Armond said. “They’re a nice family just because they’re immigrants, they’re poor (they deserve answers), they have a very clean house and they’re very nice people.”
The last contact Olyad’s family had with him was a phone call with his father at around 10pm on Tuesday.
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“When his father called around 11, it went to voicemail,” said Olyad’s friend, Abdi Ahmedyasin.
By 1 a.m. Wednesday, the family was distraught.
The scene of a fatal crash at the intersection of 10th Avenue and 6th Street in New Westminster on July 27. Photo by Shane MacKichan /jpg
They were told by Vancouver police to wait for news, but Olyad’s friends joined the family, going first to the Cambie Street police detachment, then splitting up in taxis to tour hospital emergency rooms.
“It wasn’t like Olyad didn’t call,” Ahmedyasin said. “It didn’t look like him to be out so late.”
A group was on their way to the Edmonds Community Center in Burnaby to see if Olyad’s Toyota Yaris might be in the parking lot when they encountered police at the scene and were directed to the Royal Columbian. By then it was probably 3 or 4 a.m., Ahmedyasin said, and the family still couldn’t get information.
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“They were like, ‘We can’t tell you anything, just hang out, someone will come talk to you.'” Every hour we got back and the same thing.
The Nissan Altima fled when transit police tried to pull it over Tuesday night, Const. Amanda Steed said in a news release following the fiery fatal crash.
“A short time later, the vehicle was located engulfed in flames after causing a multi-vehicle collision,” the release said.
Seven ambulances and a ranger responded to the crash on the New West-Burnaby border, British Columbia Emergency Health Services said, and three people were taken to hospital, two in critical condition.
The driver and passenger in the fleeing Altima were arrested. Charges of prohibited driving, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and fleeing police are recommended.
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Steed said the Burnaby RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit is assisting with the investigation and the British Columbia Independent Investigation Office (IIO) will investigate police actions.
Postmedia News requested details about why transit police tried to stop the Nissan and how the family can get help and answers.
“I cannot provide further details on the reason for the traffic stop as the IIO is handling that part of the investigation,” Steed responded via email. “Any further questions can be referred to them.”
The Independent Investigations Office said it was looking into the questions submitted by Postmedia, but because of that investigation and pending criminal charges, the office could not comment, a spokesman said.
Anyone who saw the crash or has dashcam footage and has not contacted police is asked to call 604-515-8300 (or text 7/87/77).
— With files from Joe Ruttle and Tiffany Crawford
gordmcintyre@postmedia.com
twitter.com/gordmcintyre
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