The devastated family of a truck driver who died in a horrific crash have made a desperate plea to help repatriate his body abroad.
Jamal Choukri, 44 years old, who was on his way to work in botany in southern Sydney, died in a multi-vehicle collision on the Sydney Harbor Bridge on October 17.
The 51-year-old driver of a Hyundai i30, traveling in the northbound lane, entered traffic in the southbound lane before colliding with a Mercedes.
The vehicle then collided with Mr Choukri’s Hyundai Accent and both drivers were tragically killed on impact.
Mr Choukri’s devastated family is now desperately trying to return his body to Morocco in North Africa.
TO GoFundMe The page has been created by Amal Abu-Rassaa, whose stepfather is Mr Choukri’s uncle.
Abu-Rassaa said Choukri’s relatives want to pay their respects and condolences.
He said his grieving parents are struggling to come to terms with the loss of their son, who moved to Australia from Morocco six years ago in search of a better life.
The devastated family of Jamal Choukri (pictured) have made a desperate plea to help repatriate his body to his loved ones after his death in a horror car accident.
“They are holding on as long as they can… they were absolutely distraught, especially when you are in another country and you practically can’t get here,” Ms Abu-Rassaa said. The daily telegraph.
“At first we didn’t believe it. In fact, my stepfather was stuck in traffic for four hours in the city (the day of the accident).’
Abu-Rassaa said Choukri’s family provided an estimate of the costs of burial and funeral services in Morocco.
He also described the harrowing moment when religious rites were performed on Mr Choukri’s body at a mosque on Thursday.
“He washed at the mosque yesterday and obviously watching (Mr Choukri) wash was probably one of the hardest things (my stepfather) had to do in his life,” Abu-Rassaa said.
The fundraiser has raised nearly $6,000 and the family hopes to raise $10,000.
Abu-Rassaa said Choukri’s loved ones in Sydney and Morocco are grateful for the donations that have been made so far.
Following the double fatality, calls are growing for a review of the reversible lane system on the Sydney Harbor Bridge, after two men died after crashing on the infamous “suicide lane”.
Choukri, 44 (pictured), died in a multi-vehicle collision on the Sydney Harbor Bridge on Thursday.
Mr Choukri (pictured) was one of two drivers who died after a Hyundai sedan traveling in the northbound lanes crossed into the southbound lanes before crashing into a Mercedes and hitting Mr Choukri’s vehicle. . Choukri.
In the vision of the horrific accident, a blue Hyundai i30 is seen traveling in the outside northbound lane swerving into oncoming traffic in the inside southbound lane.
The car crashed into Shukri’s white Hyundai Accent around 1:30 pm on Thursday, causing two deaths and injuries to several other people, including an expectant mother.
A growing chorus of Australians is questioning the safety of the bridge’s reversible lane system, which alters the flow of northbound and southbound traffic.
The direction of lane four, better known to Sydneysiders as the “death” or “suicide” lane, typically reverses after rush hour traffic each morning before returning to the northbound lanes on the late.
A green mark or a red cross on the lanes indicates which ones can be used; However, dozens of motorists said they made sure to avoid the infamous “death lane.”
‘How tragic. I drive in that lane regularly. I hate it. They call it ‘suicide lane’ for obvious reasons. May those poor people rest in peace,” one person wrote online.
“The configuration of the Harbor Bridge has always been very dangerous with the proximity of oncoming traffic in the center lanes,” a second shared.
Red crosses and green markings (circled in red) indicate which lanes are available to drivers traveling north and southbound on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
A blue Hyundia i30 is seen crossing into the southbound lane in footage of the fatal crash.
‘A third wrote: ‘I hate those lanes on the bridge. Every time I drive, I stay in the outside lane, I never use the inside lane, I always think it’s an accident waiting to happen and today it happened tragically.”
Many agreed that safety barriers or concrete bollards needed to be installed on the bridge between northbound and southbound traffic.
Others wanted to eliminate the reversible lane system entirely.
“Various lanes without a concrete physical barrier like those on Victorian roads are simply dangerous,” one woman wrote.
‘That’s why these roads are so stupid. Do you really trust that people drive at highway speeds with no median and lanes that change direction so you have to look at the lights above the road? said another in reference to the tick and cross system.
Cleanups and investigations on the bridge paralyzed traffic throughout the city on Thursday.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson previously told Daily Mail Australia it would consider the police’s findings.
“In 2022, Transport installed clearer signs for motorists on the Bridge following a speed zone and review of signage,” the spokesperson said.
‘The Sydney Harbor Bridge is not wide enough to accommodate a moving barrier system and preserve all lanes on what is Sydney’s most important traffic route.
‘In 2015, following a serious collision, the use of a “zipper” machine, similar to that used on Victoria Road in Drummoyne, was considered to move the barrier.
“However, it was deemed not appropriate as it would require one lane to be removed from the bridge, reducing traffic capacity by 15 per cent.”
