A north London Jewish family is in mourning after a mother and her two daughters – the daughter and granddaughters of members of Mill Hill Synagogue – were killed in a car crash while walking home from synagogue on Shabbat in Brooklyn.
Natasha (Sara) Saada, 34, and her daughters Diana, eight, and Debra, five, were struck and killed on Saturday afternoon in the Midwood neighbourhood of South Brooklyn. A third child, a boy, was critically injured and remains in hospital.
According to New York police, a silver Toyota Camry was rear-ended by an Audi sedan while turning on Ocean Parkway, a major road in the area. The collision pushed the Audi forward into a group of pedestrians. All three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
The family are to be flown to Israel, where they will be buried at Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the crash “a tragic accident of Shakespearean proportion”, describing it as especially painful for a “very close-knit” and “very religious” community. He and other officials visited the grieving family and called for urgent action to address road safety.
The driver of the Audi, 32-year-old Miriam Yarimi, was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital in stable condition. She has been charged with multiple offences, including three counts of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and reckless driving.
Miriam Yarimi (Photo Credit: X)
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Yarimi was driving with a suspended licence and had a record of dozens of traffic violations. “Speed certainly may have been a factor,” she said. “This was a horrific tragedy caused by someone who shouldn’t have been on the road.”
Yarimi, who is believed to be part of the Jewish community in New York, runs a wig business and has posted on social media about Shabbat and Jewish festivals. She previously shared photos of a blue Audi with the number plate “WIGM8KER”.
The deaths have promoted grief and shock across Jewish communities in New York, Israel and the UK. Mill Hill Synagogue informed its members of the tragedy in an email over the weekend.
Police investigations into the crash are ongoing.
