NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Nashville Uber driver was hit and killed on the side of Interstate 24 eastbound early Sunday morning after stopping to help another driver whose car had a flat tire.
Metro police said a 36-year-old Uber driver was driving a husband and wife in his Honda Fit on I-24 when he pulled over to the right shoulder near Murfreesboro Pike just after midnight due to a flat tire.He told his passengers to call another Uber while he waited for help, according to Metro police.
The second Uber driver, who Metro Police identified Monday as 38-year-old Alaa Alhashimi, got out of his car and was standing on the interstate’s shoulder with the initial driver and his passengers when a 2009 Honda Pilot SUV rounded the curve, swerved, and struck the pedestrians on the side of the interstate, along with the Honda Fit.
Alhashimi died at the scene. The female passenger was critically injured and her husband was treated at Vanderbilt Medical Center and released, according to Metro Police.
Alhashimi’s friend Ishmael Alkazzaz tells News 2 that when he wasn’t driving for Uber he was working at a barbershop in Brentwood, even occasionally cutting Governor Bill Lee’s hair.“He loved driving and he loved meeting people. Like I said, he was very friendly and easy-going and laid back. He just wanted to have a conversation with you and drink a cup of tea,” Alkazzaz said.Alkazzaz says Alhashimi’s body will be sent back to his family in Iraq where he will be laid to rest.
“He was just very friendly and wanted to help everyone,” Alkazzaz said. “It’s heartbreaking for all of us to lose him.”