Over the past week torrential rain has lashed the east coast of Australia resulting in massive flooding.
Early in the morning of Wednesday 24 March, Pakistani international student Ayaz Younus, from Malir Cantt Karachi, left home to start his first day in a new job. The 25-year-old came to Australia two years ago to study software engineering.
His flatmate, Imran Ahmed, spoke to Ayaz at about 5am before he left for work:
We had a brief chat and Ayaz said that he had been waiting for this moment, his first day of the job, for a long time and that now he will be able to support his family back in Pakistan.
Some time before 6:30am Ayaz’s car – a new Toyota Camry – became trapped in floodwaters on Cattai Ridge Road in Glenorie north of Sydney. Just before 6:30am he called emergency services to say that his car was sinking and he needed help. He stayed on the call for 40 minutes until the connection was lost.
Police attended as quickly as possible but could not find Ayaz’s car because it was completely submerged. The car was found at about 1:10pm with the Pakistani international student’s body inside.
Police say that Ayaz fought desperately to escape the car, but tragically was unable to. Detective Inspector Chris Laird described the awful scene:
You can only just imagine somebody fighting for their life to get out of the car – that’s what the inside damage of the car looked like. Also, the fact that he was on the phone for so long is even more tragic.
Inspector Laird explained that police inquiries were ongoing but speculated on the possible causes of the tragedy:
He may have not known the area as locals would … he may not have seen the water as he drove in given the fact that the gates across the road were completely submerged …Given what I have seen and the damage to the vehicle, it could very well be that the electrics totally failed and he was simply unable to escape from the car, which is an absolute tragedy.
Ayaz’s family has requested that his body be returned to Pakistan.
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Source: News.com.au, ABC