Community mourns 3 teens killed in Bucks County crash
Loved ones identified three teenagers who were killed in a crash in Bucks County on Halloween night.
Police said four teenagers were inside a Toyota Camry that was traveling eastbound on the 2600 block of Bristol Road around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31, in Warrington Township. At the same time, an SUV was traveling westbound, according to investigators.
As the Camry approached a downward crest on the road, the driver lost control and crashed into the side of the oncoming SUV, police said. Three teenagers – identified by friends and family as 16-year-old Kozyrev Artem, 15-year-old Elkhan Saparbekov and 18-year-old Aziz Amonov – were all killed in the crash.
On Monday, the Bucks County Coroner’s Office confirmed they performed autopsies on Artem and Amonov. Both teens died from blunt force trauma and their deaths were ruled as accidental.
A fourth teen, a 14-year-old boy, suffered serious injuries.
The driver of the SUV was not injured.
Police told NBC10 they believe 15-year-old Saparbekov was the teen who was driving at the time of the crash.
“You have to be 16 and a half before you get your junior driver’s license so it’s safe to say he was an unlicensed driver, unfortunately,” Warrington Township Police Chief Daniel Friel told NBC10. “Very tragic. Very heartbreaking. And another term is unimaginable. I’ve been doing this for 25 years. That is one of the most serious crashes I have come across.”
Artem and Amonov were both buried on Sunday and Saparbekov will be taken to his native Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia to be buried.
A memorial was also held for Saparbekov Sunday night in Northeast Philadelphia.
“It was kind of unexpected for me to say the least. When I heard the news two hours later after the accident, I thought it was something minor,” Umar Urkumbaev, Saparbekov’s friend, told NBC10. “I witnessed firsthand the cries and the pain of their parents because I was there with them.”
Urkumbaev’s 14-year-old cousin was the only teen who survived the crash. The boy’s family said he’s in critical condition at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They also said he underwent two surgeries and is expected to survive.
Two of the teens who were killed attended Neshaminy High School. Counselors at the school hosted an open house on Sunday, Nov. 2, at Poquessing Middle School in Feasterville. They also provided support for Neshaminy students when they return to class on Monday.
Those in need of support can call the Neshaminy High School Counseling Center at 215-809-6101.
The following organizations are also offering additional support:
- Hands Holding Hearts – 445-444- 5374 (Newtown)
- Safe Harbor – 225-491-5993 www.amh.org (Abington Memorial Hospital)
- Center for Grieving Children, Teens, and Families – 215.744.4025 (Philadelphia)
- Good Grief – 908-522-1999 ext. 8006 (Princeton, NJ)
- St. Mary’s Medical Center, Langhorne, Spiritual Counseling Department, 215.710.5902
- Lenape Valley Foundation Mobile Crisis Unit, 1.877.435.7709
- PanAmerican Mental Health Services, https://panamericanmhs.org/services (Philadelphia)
