Memorial held for crash victims

Students at Harper College in Palatine held a teary-eyed memorial service Tuesday to honor three of their own who died in a weekend car accident.

More than three-dozen Harper students and staff attended a gathering hosted by the school's Indiana-Pakistan Student Association to pay respects to Ayush Joshi, 20, of Hoffman Estates and brothers Zohair Husain, 18, of Huntley and Kumail Husain, 20, of Algonquin.

"We wanted to be able to cherish all the memories we had with them," said Surayya Fatima, association president, on why they hosted Tuesday's memorial.

The three, along with two others, were in a 2003 Infiniti G35 heading west on Dietrich Road, between Brier Hill Road and Route 20 just north of I-90, when the car left the road and hit a tree around 3:30 a.m. Saturday in unincorporated Kane County.

During the memorial service, many students fought back tears as candles were lit in honor of the Harper students and a slideshow, filled with pictures of all three and their friends, was shown.

All of those who spoke Tuesday described all three as great, fun-living guys.

"They made everyone laugh all the time," Kailash Oad said.

Friends spoke about happier times during dinners at Bahama Breeze and a fun afternoon at Great America.

A video clip posted on the Internet of the two Husain brothers dancing at a recent wedding was also shown.

"They were always together," said Osman Ahemed.

Indira Reddy, a Harper counselor and adviser of the student association, said the three students brought a lot of enthusiasm to the group.

"I deeply miss them," Reddy said. "I am better off for knowing three excellent students."

Besides the three Harper students, two other men were also in the car: the driver, Muhammad Jaffrie, 24 of Crystal Lake, and 19-year-old Henry Onwualu of Huntley.

As of Tuesday, Onwualu remained in critical condition at St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford and Jaffrie in critical, but stable condition at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin.