Zimbabwean couple die in Kansas car crash

Zimbabwean couple die in Kansas car crash

CRASH SCENE: US media reports the deadly crash

TRAGIC: Daniel seen here with wife, Marigold and son, Mishael, in a photo released to the media by Pastor Jim Anderson of Omaha Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church

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By Staff Reporter

FRIENDS have told of their shock at the death of a Zimbabwean couple in a car crash on a United States motorway.

Daniel Jamela, 37, and wife Marigold, 34, died when their Honda SUV collided head-on with a tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 435 near Kansas 32 in Wyandotte County late on Tuesday night.

The couple were driving to Dallas where they were moving home from Omaha, police said.

The couple’s son, Mishael, 8, and six-month-old daughter Mario escaped the crash. The extent of their injuries is unknown and they have been taken to the Children’s Mercy Hospital.

The news hit their close-knit Omaha neighbourhood especially hard.

“I’m shocked and heartbroken. I’m just saddened by the whole event, wondering where the kids will go, and I am heartbroken for them, too,” said neighbour Donna Firkins.

“We loved them as neighbours and friends. They were wonderful people. They were very friendly, polite and intelligent.”

Officers from the Kansas Highway Patrol said Daniel was driving his Honda SUV southbound on I-435 when he lost control. His vehicle crossed the median and struck the northbound semi.

The SUV was pulling a rented U-Haul trailer. It was loaded with supplies for the family’s new apartment in Dallas.

Authorities said the entire Jamela family wore seatbelts, as did the semi-driver, Rodger B. Wilson, 54, of Brookfield, Mo., who was not injured.

Daniel was a nurse at the Creighton University Medical Centre. Marigold Jamela stayed home to care for their children. The couple had a strong work ethic and were deeply spiritual, friends said.

Daniel is believed to have attended Lower Gwelo High School in Zimbabwe, and graduated from the University of Zimbabwe.

The couple is believed to have moved to the United States, first to Texas, seven to 10 years ago.

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