Charges laid in crash that killed teens

Man 27,charged with criminal negligence causing death,flight from police and driving while prohibited

CorneliaNaylor

cnaylor@burnabynow.com

A 27-year-old man has been charged in connection with a crash that killed two young men on the Burnaby-NewWestminster border last summer.

The deaths of Samir Olyad Suleiman Ali, 18, andYabsrat HabtamuYtatek, 17, devastated the Lower Mainland Ethiopian community

Both teens were firstborn sons of large families and were described as leaders in the Ethiopian community

Ytatek, a Burnaby resident, had come to Canada with his family as a refugee via Somalia eight years earlier

He was preparing to enter Grade 12 at Byrne Creek Community School in the fall

Ytatek and Ali had been coming home from a soccer practice in NewWestminster at about 11 p.m. on July 26, 2022, when the ToyotaYaris they were in collided with a Nissan Altima on 10th Avenue and Sixth Street, according to