Azra Kemal let out harrowing screams as she fell 30ft to death trying to cross a dual carriageway after her car caught fire, an inquest heard today.
She was travelling towards London with a friend when she fell from a bridge on the A21 onto the land below.
Age
She was 24 years old.
Azra Kemal Died
Witnesses saw the driver escape her flaming Ford Focus and head towards the central reservation on the A21 in Tonbridge, Kent on Thursday, July 16.
In a desperate attempt to flag down cars, Azra clambered over the barrier and fell an approximate 30ft drop off the Medway Viaduct to the Haysden Country Park below.
Police were called shortly after 2.30am and London School of Economics law graduate Azra was pronounced dead at 3.20am.
An inquest in Maidstone, Kent today heard she died of multiple severe injuries.
Azra’s friend Omar Allen, who was in the passenger seat of her car when it caught fire, described the incident, saying: “There were just flames all over the car.
“We hopped out and the flames got bigger. They were all over the bonnet.
Severe Injuries
“Azra wanted to get her little Louis Vuitton bag but there was smoke and fire inside the car.
“I advised her that’s not a good idea because the car was hissing like it was going to blow up.
“We got the bags that we could out and that’s when we crossed the road to the central reservation.
“We were trying to flag down cars but there were no cars coming our way.
“Because of the fire, no car wanted to pass so they were all piling up.”
The pair managed to make it across the central reservation initially to try and flag down traffic which continued to head southbound.
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But in a panic, Azra then attempted to clamber over another larger waist-high barrier to return to the northbound carriageway.
Instead, she fell through a small gap between the two roads – while her friend, who was carrying the bags, followed her.
Traffic management worker Mr Allen, of Stoke Newington, North London added: “She walked out about two metres ahead of me and went to cross the dual carriageway again. So I went to follow her while carrying the bags.
“That’s when I heard her fall. I looked down and I couldn’t see her.
“The screams went on for so long that I knew it was far down.
“She was down there screaming for me to come help her.”
Mr Allen, 31, said he attempted to climb down a tree to try and reach Azra but it snapped and he fell to the ground too.
Tribute
After the incident, friends paid tribute to Azra at the family home.
Pal Tamara Griffith said: “She was the most hard working person I have ever met in my life. She believed in things.”
Rosie Gavan said: “There was no other Azra on this earth and I don’t think there ever will be.”
Coroner Alan Blunsdon adjourned the inquest to a later date yet to be confirmed.
