The devastated families of the three teens killed on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn shared their pain over their loved ones’ loss Wednesday, just hours after the teens’ lives ended together in a speeding Cadillac Escalade.
The three victims — Abdul Rehman, 16, Konstantin Gerantidi, 17, and driver Huzayfah Aziz Algahiem, 18 — died after the 2002 Cadillac Escalade they were riding in collided with a 2024 Honda HR-V near Exit 1 by 65th St. in Bay Ridge around 11:35 p.m. Tuesday, cops said.
Rehman worked at an ice cream shop to support his elderly parents, relatives said. He was looking forward to attending 11th grade at Rachel Carson High School in Coney Island, where Algahiem graduated in May. Algahiem wanted to study engineering at Brooklyn College, relatives said. Konstantin’s family said that the teen’s death has “shaken everyone who knew him.”
Family members said Rehman had dreams of going to business school one day.
“He worked in a Häagen-Dazs ice cream shop to help support our family,” the teen’s sister, 15-year-old Anaya Iqbal, told the Daily News. “He was our only brother. Now it’s me and my older sister.”
“We’re broken,” she said solemnly.
Abdul told his family that he was going to meet friends before heading out earlier that day, according to a cousin.
“He just said that he was going out,” Muhammad Usman, 25, said at Abdul’s parents’ home in Brighton Beach. “He said he would be back shortly.”
“He was a really good boy,” Usman added. “He was helping take care of his elderly parents. Our family is almost destroyed. He was the only boy of his father.”
Abdul was looking forward to attending 11th grade at Rachel Carson High School, relatives said. He also helped feed the homeless.
“He was really kind and loving,” his sister said. “He was still trying to figure out whether he wanted to go to college. He wanted to be a businessman.”
Abdul and his two friends died at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, cops said.
Algahiem’s uncle said his nephew and his friends went out to grab dinner at a Yemeni Cafe in Bay Ridge and were on their way home when the crash occurred.
“It’s a terrible loss,” said Amin Algahiem, 43. “He was a very kind, good boy.”
The Cadillac driver had just graduated from Rachel Carson High School and was applying to Brooklyn College, where he wanted to study engineering, according to his uncle.
The teen’s family, including his parents, three brothers and two sisters, were in Egypt for a summer vacation when the crash occurred.
“Our family, even those in Egypt, are all doing really bad,” said the driver’s uncle. “They wanted to take him with them, but he wanted to spend the summer in the city.”
Konstantin’s death left his mother and sister “facing unimaginable heartbreak and the pain of saying goodbye far too soon,” a GoFundMe posted by a family friend to pay for funeral expenses says. “Kostya was deeply loved, and this loss has shaken everyone who knew him and cared about his family.”
The teen’s family gathered to mourn at his mother’s apartment in Brighton Beach, where a cousin told the Daily News, “We’re barely holding up.”
“It’s only been 15 hours,” said Konstantin’s cousin, 31-year-old Serj Yu. “He was the last one we expected to go this way. He had big dreams. He was a beautiful boy.”
“Everybody’s crying.”
All three victims weren’t wearing seatbelts and were ejected from the Cadillac when it overturned, cops said. Two other teens riding in the Cadillac were belted in and survived.
The three victims lived near each other in Brighton Beach. One of the surviving teens told police they had been hanging out at a gas station and were preparing to go home when they crashed.
Algahiem was speeding when he switched from the center to the right lane, cops said. He braked sharply due to a slower moving vehicle in front of him and was rear-ended by the Honda SUV behind him.
The out-of-control Cadillac then hit a guardrail, spun around and overturned, ejecting the three teens.
The surviving teens, a 16-year-old boy who lives in Brighton Beach and an 18-year-old man who lives in Coney Island, survived and were treated at Maimonides Medical Center.
The Honda became partially wedged under the Cadillac during the crash and also overturned, police said.
The 46-year-old woman driving the HR-V and her passenger, a 44-year-old woman, were taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn in stable condition.
No charges have been filed. Algahiem had a valid license, police said. He received driving summonses six times in the past, including in January for speeding and making an unsafe lane change on the Belt Parkway, police sources said.
In August of last year, Algahiem got a summons for speeding and driving on the shoulder on Staten Island. He didn’t answer that summons in court and had his license suspended, but it was eventually restored, the sources said.