Tribute paid to young Iraqi killed in collision in Heywood

Saman Khdr

The cousin of a man killed in a collision in Heywood has paid tribute to a friendly, hard-working person.

23-year-old Saman Khdr died at the weekend after a two-week battle against injuries he sustained when his car collided with a wagon.

Saman was originally from Kirkuk in Iraq, but had lived in Rochdale for six years, working as a warehouse operative. He leaves his mother, father, two sisters and two brothers, who all still live in Iraq.

His cousin Rebas Khoshnaw, who he lived with on Lindisfarne in Rochdale, paid tribute to his popular flatmate.

"Saman loved surfing the net, was friendly, and always smiling. He enjoyed his work and worked hard at it. We will all miss him very much."

Shortly after 7.05am on Friday 4 April 2008, police were called to Manchester Road, close to its junction with Coronation Avenue, Heywood, following reports a Vauxhall Astra had collided with a skip wagon.

On arrival officers found the driver of the Astra, Saman, with serious head injuries.

He was taken to Fairfield Hospital where he received treatment for his injuries. However, they were too severe, and he died on Saturday 12 April 2008.

The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.

Police believe there was a single decker bus either driving or parked on Manchester Road at about the time of the incident and are appealing for anyone that may have been on the bus to contact them.

Inspector Martin O'Connor of the Road Policing Unit said: "It is vital that we speak to anyone who witnessed the crash that killed Saman so we can try and establish exactly what happened.

"We believe there was a single-decker bus on Manchester Road at the time of the incident. I would appeal to anyone that was on that bus just after 7am that morning to contact us as they could hold that crucial piece of information. I cannot emphasise enough how important this is. A young man has lost his life, if you can help please get in touch."

Anyone that witnessed the collision is asked to contact the Road Policing Unit on 0161 856 8802.