A woman who survived a fatal crash on the A40 has spoken out for the first time about how she “begged the driver to slow down”.
Zamarod Arif, 26, said she “felt every tumble” as the car flew into the air and onto railway tracks after veering off the road next to Park Royal railway station in London at up to 100mph in the early hours of Monday.
Ms Arif, who was the front seat passenger and the only one wearing a seatbelt, described the crash as “like being in a tsunami” because she was thrown around the inside of the Range Rover car.
She recalled how one of the first people at the scene of the crash told her to say a prayer as he didn’t think she would make it out alive.
Her best friend, Yagmur Ozden, 33, died in the crash as she was ejected from the rear passenger seat as the speeding vehicle slammed through metal barriers and into a nearby Tesla charging station.
Driver Rida Al Mousawi was also thrown from the car and severely injured. He remains in a coma in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London.
Speaking to MailOnline, Ms Arif recalls that neither Ms Ozden nor Mr Al Mousawi listened to her when she told them to put on their seatbelts.
Moments before the crash, Ms Arif said she and Ms Ozden had begged the driver to slow down.
“Rida liked to drive fast and he likes to tease people when they are in the car. We were going so fast as soon as we left the Wish Lounge,” said Ms Arif.
“When we got on the A40 I told Rida to slow down. We stopped at a red light by the BP garage and then Rida started going fast. He just kept going faster. I told him to slow down and touched his arm. Yagmur was also telling him to slow down.
“She had a previous bad experience and didn’t like going fast. We were both afraid.”
Just before they careered off the road, Ms Ozden “shouted out there was something in the road”, which led to Mr Al Mousawi swerving the car and losing control.
The beautician suffered a broken leg and a broken arm in the crash, but avoided any serious injuries.
Describing the crash, she said: “I was in the car conscious all the time. I felt every tumble. I felt everything. I had watched the Tsunami movie (The Impossible) three days before with Yagmur and there was a girl being hit by the Tsunami.
“Water was hitting her left right and centre and it felt like that. It was the worst experience of my life. I am so lucky to be alive.”
Lying on the track after the crash, Ms Arif could see Mr Al Mousawi on the platform, alive and breathing heavily. She could not see Ms Ozden and later found out she had died.
Ms Ozden’s family described her as “an angel” who was “very funny and could cheer up the saddest person”.
In a tribute, her family said: “She had an amazing bond with her daughter and her daughter will always cherish those moments she had with her mum.”
Ms Arif said she was conscious throughout the crash and ‘felt every tumble’
