Iowa Father Killed in Crash Months After Wife’s Death, Leaving Behind Their 5 Children

Just months after his wife died during childbirth, an Iowa father has passed away from a car crash, leaving behind the couple’s five children.

As reported by WHO-13, 31-year-old Bazirake Kayira died Friday after he was involved in a single-vehicle accident on an icy road in Marshall County.

Per reports, his car was found in a creek amid a winter storm in the area. Though rescuers pulled him from his vehicle, he later died from his injuries.

The Des Moines Register adds that Bazirake was driving to his job at the JBS pork processing plant in Marshalltown when the incident occurred.

Four months prior, Bazirake’s wife Zabayo Bigirimana died while giving birth to a baby girl. The parents — who are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and immigrated to the U.S. three years ago — leave behind their daughter and her four brothers, ages 2, 6, 8, and 10.

“They’ve been crying all the time, saying, ‘We lost mother. We lost father.’ It’s very, very hard to the kids,” the family’s pastor, Eugene Kiruhara, told WHO-13.

Per the outlet, the children are now in the care of their grandparents, who immigrated to the United States themselves just a few years ago, don’t speak English, and lack financial means.

To help the family out, Kiruhara created a GoFundMe page this week, aimed at raising funds for funeral expenses as well as for the children.

“Keep these children in your prayers. This is very sudden and extremely shocking for them to lose both parents like this in a short period of time,” Kiruhara wrote on the page.

The pastor added to WHO-13, “I’m not fearing. I’m believing in God. That’s why I’m asking people, please, please help these kids. Raise these kids. These kids, I know tomorrow they will be somebody. They will be helping others if they can get help from the community.”

As of this writing, the page has raised $283,440 — surpassing its goal of $200,000.