Crash kills dad of 7 and wife

From the archive, first published Thursday 7th Dec 2006.

A father-of-seven and his wife have been killed in a car crash as they drove back from a funeral.

Matloob Hussain, 57, and his wife Nasreen Babi, 37, died when their car left the northbound carriageway of the M1 in Leicestershire and smashed into trees.

The couple had been returning to their Bradford home from the funeral of Mr Hussain's brother's four-year-old granddaughter.

Mr Hussain's eldest son Nasar Hussain, 36, said his father had been looking forward to picking up the keys to his new house the day after the funeral. And the Toyota Corolla his parents had been in when they died had been bought that week so his father could resume as a private hire driver.

Mr Hussain said his father had been struggling to come to terms with the death of his 21-year-old son Waqas but had just begun to piece his life together again.

Waqas, Mr Hussain's half-brother, died last year in a car crash outside their home in New Cross Street, West Bowling, Bradford.

Mr Hussain said his father had begun the road to recovery when he became a grandfather again in May - when Mr Hussain's second child Amaan was born - and had relished the role. He said: "He absolutely adored Amaan."

He said his father had been a deeply religious man who always prayed at the correct times, whatever his situation or location.

He attended the mosque on Marsh Street in Bradford five times a day. His funeral was being held there today.

Mr Hussain said his father's main priorities had been family and friends. "He was a very generous man, not just to his family but to anybody. He would go broke rather than deny anybody anything. He was a very simple man; he wanted to be loved and tried to do right by everybody," he said.

His step-mother had been the mirror image of her husband in personality and beliefs.

"She was extremely like my dad. She was the most generous person I have ever met," he said.

The couple married in 2002 and Mrs Babi left her home country of Pakistan to join her husband.

Because his stepmother had no blood relatives in Britain her body will be flown back to Pakistan tomorrow for a funeral.

Police are investigating the accident, at 8.40pm last Friday. An inquest has been opened and adjourned.

e-mail: rebecca.wright@bradford.newsquest.co.uk