The family of a Brooklyn teenager killed in a fiery two-car crash in upstate New York was reeling Monday as they grieved the loss of a vibrant 15-year-old girl in a collision that also injured her cousin, and claimed the life of a Pearl River, N.Y., teen.
“It’s so hard to believe she’s gone,” Selina Cecunjanin, whose 15-year-old niece Saniha Cekic died after the crash in Pearl River, told the Daily News.
“(Her mother) is in shock,” she said of Sadeta Cekic. “She’s having high blood pressure. She’s on medication but she is very weak … we are afraid for her life.”
The teen, a student at Edward R. Murrow High School in Midwood, and Altin Nezaj, 17, of Pearl River, were passengers in a Porsche SUV that plummeted off an overpass and burst into flames, killing both, police said.
The Porsche’s driver, 17-year-old Aisha Radoncic of Orangeburg — who is also and Cekic’s cousin — was seriously injured and taken to Westchester Medical Center.
According to police, the SUV erupted in flames after colliding with a Volkswagen Jetta on Route 304, and falling onto New Jersey Transit tracks below.
“I was watching the car and all of a sudden I heard this big bang,” said Joe Geppner, who lives close to the crash site. “We started trying to put out the fire. All we heard was this poor girl screaming. And she was screaming terribly.”
“Thank God the fire department came,” Geppner added. “I kept seeing the flames no matter what they did, they just kept coming up.”
Jason Castro of Nanuet, who was driving the Jetta, wasn’t injured.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Cecunjanin, who lives in Shelton, Conn., said she got a call while at work Sunday that Cekic was injured in a crash while out grabbing doughnuts and coffee with her cousin, whom she was visiting.
“We went straight to the hospital,” Cecunjanin said, sobbing as she spoke. “We thought everything was going to be OK — and then she didn’t make it.”
The heartbroken aunt said Cekic’s twin brother Salih has said little since learning of his sister’s death.
“It’s very hard for him,” she said. “We are trying to help him and support him as best we can.”
Department of Education spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said grief counselors will be available for students and staff this week at Murrow.
“This is a tragic loss,” she said. “We’ll be in close communication with the school community, and ensure students and staff are supported.”
Grief counselors will also be available at Pearl River High School, where Nezaj and Radoncic were students.
Nezaj’s loved ones posted messages of mourning on Twitter early Monday.
“I cannot even believe this tragic news that has struck my family. A life taken way too soon. My baby cousin, Altin i’m praying for your parents and brothers,” wrote @artesamujaj. “Oh zot why did this happen to you.”
Cecunjanin — who spent summers with Cekic in their home country of Montenegro, hiking along the rivers and through the mountains with other loved ones — said she called her niece about three weeks ago just to catch up.
It was the last time they spoke.
“She had a beautiful voice, I will miss that voice,” Cecunjanin said through tears. “She was beautiful, a good student, so lovely with everybody, so full of life.”
With Michael Elsen-Rooney and News Wire Services
