Publication date: July 29, 2022 • 46 minutes ago • 3 minutes to read • Join the discussion Two teenagers were killed in a fatal crash after their vehicle was hit by another vehicle that fled from Metro Vancouver police. Photo by Byrne Creek Rugby Club

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The second teenager killed in a fiery crash with a hit-and-run driver Tuesday night was a 17-year-old high school student.

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Yasbirat Ytatek and their friend, Samir Ali, were driving home from a soccer game when their vehicle was struck near the Burnaby-New Westminster border by a Nissan Altima that sped away after transit police attempted to stop the vehicle. The teenagers were pronounced dead at Royal Columbian Hospital. Ytatek was the oldest of five children, according to a family friend, Mitsilal Weldahaimanot. His family, recent immigrants from Ethiopia, live in the Edmonds area of ​​Burnaby and struggle with death. Ytatek would have started Tier 12 this fall. “Neither of his parents are able to work after suffering this tragedy, so we are reaching out to the community to help support the family,” Weldahaimanot said of a GoFundMe page.

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Ytatek was named Player of the Month for March by his soccer team and recently earned a spot on the prestigious Burnaby District Men’s Metro Soccer team. Ytatek was also certified as a personal trainer in the Burnaby school district and played rugby with the Byrne Creek Rugby Club. “The community has been through a lot, this couldn’t be true,” Moreno Stefanon, his coach at Byrne Creek and a teacher at Edmonds Community School, said of his initial reaction. “I’m still in shock.” It’s the fourth loss of life in the Edmonds neighborhood in the past three months: A 14-year-old girl died after being hit by a dump truck in May and two Burn Creek graduates were murdered the following week. Stefanon cried when the realization hit. He said he still feels numb and still finds himself referring to Ytatek in the present tense.

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“Yasbirat is such a wonderful young man, he has a world of potential ahead of him,” Stefanon said. When the teacher arrived at Byrne Creek five years ago, Ytatek had recently arrived and was learning 8th grade English. Stefanon recruited Ytatek for the school’s rugby program. “He just has this infectious smile, this charisma, this positive attitude towards life. Just a great young man to coach. “It’s tragic, I don’t know how else to describe it because it wasn’t his doing, it was just the wrong place at the wrong time.” The other victim, Samir, whose legal name is Olyad Suleiman, was a British High School graduate who will study kinesiology at the University of BC on a $50,000 scholarship in the fall. Olyad’s family immigrated from Kenya five years ago and live in East Vancouver. An online fundraiser has also been set up to support his family.

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His family was kept in the dark about the whereabouts of their son’s remains for more than 60 hours, but finally got to see their son on Friday afternoon, a family neighbor said. Metro Vancouver police said their officers attempted to pull over a white Nissan Altima at 10th Avenue and 6th Street in New Westminster a few minutes around 11 p.m. Tuesday. The speeding vehicle caught fire after hitting the teenagers’ vehicle, police said. The driver and passenger of the Altima were arrested. Charges have been laid for disqualified driving, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and fleeing from police. Due to the deaths, the matter has been turned over to the BC Transit Police Independent Investigations Office, Burnaby RCMP and the IIO declined to comment further. [email protected] twitter.com/gordmcintyre [email protected] twitter.com/cherylchan

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