The Kurdish Irish Society and NUI Galway have paid tribute to the family killed in a tragic car crash on the M6 near Ballinasloe Co Galway on Thursday evening.
The family of three have been named by the Irish Kurdish Society are Karzan Sabah, his wife Shahen Qasm and their eight month old daughter Lena.
The family had been living in Riverside in Galway city for several years, where the father had been completing a PhD in Agriculture at NUI Galway.
Karzan was due to take up a new job as a lecturer in Carlow and the family were on their way home from looking at accommodation options there when the crash occurred.
Statement from NUI Galway
NUI Galway extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of postdoc researcher Karzan Sabah Ahmed, his wife Shahen and their young child Lena.
Our thoughts are with all those who knew Karzan and his family, here in Ireland and overseas.
Karzan was a highly regarded researcher and in recent weeks he had submitted his PhD thesis and started postdoc research work, with all of the hopes and ambitions of a young academic charting a career path and life for himself and his young family.
The community of NUI Galway is deeply saddened by such an untimely loss, in such tragic circumstances.
Staff in the University chaplaincy are on hand to provide support to friends, colleagues and others who need it at this difficult time.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh an-anamacha dílse.
Tribute from The Irish Kurdish Society
Tribute to Karzan, Shahen and baby Lena.
Tragic deaths of Mr Karzan Sabah (aged 36), and his wife Shahen Qasm (aged 31), and their baby Lena 8 months old.
It has been relayed that the horrific three car crash on the M6 outside Galway on Thursday evening resulted in which a complete Kurdish family were killed as result of the car crash. Mr Karzan Sabah (aged 36), his wife Shahen Qasm (age 31) and their eight month old baby Lena, are all dead as a result of this serious road traffic accident outside Galway. The post -mortems are continuing to determine the expected result of their deaths.
Karzan's early life where he grew up in Erbil city in the Kurdish region of Iraq, and studied in Salahaddin University as a student in agriculture. Karzan has parents who are still alive and his brothers and sisters. He grew up in a time when Kurdistan and Iraq was ruled under the Saddam regime. Later Karzan emigrated to Plymouth (2011) where he completed his university in the UK where he studied his masters in research. He came to Ireland in 2017 on a student visa and resided in Galway. He attended NUIG in the faculty of agriculture where he obtained his PhD after 4 years of difficult study. He was a real family man and adored his wife Shahen and their little baby Lena. They loved Galway and all of its inhabitants, and the amount of messages on social media is a flowing tribute to this.
Karzan had been offered an opportunity to lecture in Carlow in agriculture as he had graduated with a PhD recently from NUIG in agriculture. Karzan and his wife Shahen and baby Lena departed on Thursday evening with the intention to arrive in Carlow to secure accommodation so Karzan and his family could live close to his newly proposed offer of employment. Karzan was married to Shahen Qasm a qualified engineer from Erbil and their 8 month old baby Lena. A very friendly family and well liked in the community for their politeness, and always had a kind word and were very sociable. Karzan and his family visited many panoramic sites in the republic and in Northern Ireland as he was a keen lover of nature, flora and agriculture. His studies were intense in agriculture and the environment. Karzan had a great connection with the Kurdish families in the Galway area and maintained his passion for being Kurdish. He was trilingual and he spoke Kurdish, English and Arabic, he also had a love for reading and music and to travel. Kurdish food was his speciality, and his wife Shahen was a good cook, and was also an engineer.
The Kurdish Irish society has been in existence since 1990 and officially recognised since 2000. The Kurdish Irish society is headed by Zhyan and Philip, and has accomplished so much in all this time assisting thousands of Kurdish refugees and migrants as their interpreter and support mechanisms. We have and still accommodate any situation which requires our help. We help in the integration, education, healthcare, housing, jobs, social welfare and any other situations where we can intervene or refer for further assistance.
They met with an unexpected ending on Thursday evening last, with a tragic end to their lives, an end to their future; they are now in a better place. Sadly missed by their families in Kurdistan, relatives, friends, Kurdish communities and all who knew them. A sincere thanks to all those who sent their condolences. The repatriation of all three remains for the return to Kurdistan is being dealt with at the moment. ‘Only god knows our fate”.
