Fundraiser Held To Cover Burial Costs For 2 Killed In Arlington Crash

ARLINGTON, VA — A friend of two people killed in a car crash in Arlington on July 4 is holding an online fundraising campaign to help their families with funeral costs.

Furkan Avkan, 23, who was driving the car, and 21-year-old Habiba Harbaoui, a passenger in the car, both died in the crash.

Mutaz Bani Yaseen, a friend of the two who lives in Baltimore, is organizing the GoFundMe campaign for their families.

Around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, July 4, their car crashed into a tree while traveling southbound on S. Walter Reed Drive near S. Dinwiddie Street, according to the Arlington County Police Department.

Avkan was pronounced dead at the scene. Harbaoui was removed from the car but died at a hospital, according to police. Another passenger who had to be removed from the car was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

Habiaba was a student from Tunisia who had come to the U.S. to study and “open a new opportunity to have a better life with a good education,” Yaseen wrote on the GoFundMe campaign page. Furkan, who was also a student, had come to the U.S. from Turkey.

“We are raising money to help their families and get them back home to help get them to their families for a proper burial,” Yaseen said. “With appropriate funds from everyone we can make it happen so please help us to help them.”

Visit the GoFundMe fundraising site to donate money to the families of Avkan and Harbaoui to help cover the costs of their burials.

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