A mother and her 7-year-old daughter were killed when a family of four drove through floodwaters in Oklahoma while en route to a friend’s house.
Leila Faraji, 46, and her daughter, Rosa Faraji, 7, were found dead in the Arkansas River on Monday by search and rescue personnel.
“It’s such a sad, sad tragedy that something like this had to happen,” family friend Nader Olomi said. ”But you cannot stop destiny, you know? Whatever is determined for us by God.”
After taking a wrong turn and ending up on a flooded bridge off US-64, the victims, Faraji’s husband, and their 10-year-old daughter were on the verge of arriving at a friend’s house on Sunday afternoon. Their SUV was washed into the creek by the water.
Rosa and his wife were carried away when they were unable to flee the rapids, but the father and his older daughter were spared.
“They found the older daughter across the creek, and then, after they brought her out, they saw Masoud, which is the husband,” family friend Ahmad Moradi said. “He was in a daze on this side of the road. But when we came, both of them were in a really big shock.”
The missing mother and daughter were searched for by over 100 officials from multiple agencies.
“We get a lot of rain. There’s a lot of flooding this time of year, and I can’t stress enough just how dangerous these conditions are,” said Casey Roebuck with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. “This was a situation where the father… completely underestimated how deep the water was and how fast it was moving. Absolutely tragic.”
Rosa was recalled by friends and coworkers as a charming, aspiring gymnastics star, and Faraji as a kind mechanical engineer.
“Very well-mannered, enthusiastic. She was a joy,” said Moradi, who tutored the 7-year-old.