Family of Sydney Harbour Bridge crash victim Jamal Choukri make desperate plea

The devastated family of a truck driver who was killed in a horror crash have issued a desperate plea to help repatriate his body overseas. 

Jamal Choukri, 44, who was on his way to work in Botany in Sydney’s south, was killed in the multi-vehicle collision on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 17 October.

The 51-year-old driver of a Hyundai i30, who was driving in the northbound lanes, crossed over into traffic in the southbound lanes before it collided with a Mercedes.

The vehicle then hit Mr Choukri’s Hyundai Accent and the two drivers tragically died on impact. 

Mr Choukri’s shattered family are now desperately trying get his body back home to Morocco, in North Africa. 

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Amal Abu-Rassaa, whose stepfather is the uncle of Mr Choukri. 

Ms Abu-Rassaa said Mr Choukri’s family members want to pay their respects and condolences. 

She said his grieving parents are struggling to come to terms with the loss of their son, who moved to Australia from Morocco six years ago for a better life. 

‘They’re hanging in there as much as they can … they were absolutely distraught, especially when you’re in another country and you pretty much can’t get here,’ Ms Abu-Rassaa told The Daily Telegraph. 

‘We didn’t believe it at first. My stepfather was actually stuck in traffic for four hours in the city on (the day of the crash)’.

Ms Abu-Rassaa said Mr Choukri’s family provided an estimate for the burial costs and for the funeral services in Morocco. 

She also described the heartbreaking moment the religious rites were performed on Mr Choukri’s body at a mosque on Thursday. 

‘Yesterday at the mosque was his washing, and obviously seeing (Mr Choukri) getting washed was probably one of the hardest things (my stepfather) ever had to do in his life,’ Ms Abu-Rassaa said. 

The fundraiser has raised almost $6,000, with the family hoping to raise $10,000.

Ms Abu-Rassaa said loved ones of Mr Choukri in Sydney and Morocco are grateful for the donations that have been made so far. 

Following the double-fatal crash, calls are mounting for an overhaul of the reversible lane system on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after two men died after crashing in the infamous ‘suicide lane’. 

Mr Choukri, 44, (pictured) was killed in the multi-vehicle collision on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Thursday

Mr Choukri (pictured) was one of two drivers, who died after a Hyundai sedan travelling in the northbound lanes, crossed onto the southbound lanes before it collided into a Mercedes and struck Mr Choukri’s vehicle

In vision of the horror crash, a blue Hyundai i30 travelling on the outside northbound lane is seen drifting into oncoming traffic in the inside southbound lane. 

The car slammed into Mr Shukri’s white Hyundai Accent at about 1.30pm on Thursday causing two fatalities and injuries to several others, including a mum-to-be. 

A growing chorus of Aussies are questioning the safety of the bridge’s reversible lane system which alters the flow of north and southbound traffic. 

The direction of lane four, better know by Sydneysiders as the ‘death’ or ‘suicide’ lane is typically reversed after peak-hour traffic each morning before returning to servicing northbound lanes in the afternoon.

A green tick or a red cross above the lanes indicates which can be used, however  dozens of motorists said they made sure to avoid the infamous ‘death lane’.

‘So tragic. I drive in that lane regularly. I hate it. They call it the ‘suicide lane’ for obvious reasons. Rest in peace those poor people,’ one person wrote online. 

‘The Harbour Bridge set-up has always been super dicey with the proximity of oncoming traffic in the middle lanes,’ a second shared.

Red crosses and green ticks (red-circled) indicate which lanes are available to drivers travelling northbound and southbound on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

A blue Hyundia i30 is seen crossing into the southbound lane in footage of the fatal crash

‘A third wrote: ‘I hate those lanes on the bridge. Every time I drive on it I stay on the outside lanes, I never use the inside lane, I always think it’s an accident waiting to happen and today it tragically did’. 

Many agreed that concrete crash barriers or bollards needed to be installed on the bridge between the northbound and southbound traffic.

Others wanted the reversible lane system done away with entirely.

‘Variable lanes without a concrete physical barrier like they do on Victorian roads are simply dangerous,’ one woman wrote.

‘That’s why these roads are so stupid. You really trust people to drive at highway speeds with no median and lanes that change direction so you have to look at lights above the road?’ another said in reference to the tick and cross system. 

Clean-ups and investigations on the bridge brought citywide traffic to a halt on Thursday

A Transport for NSW spokesperson previously told Daily Mail Australia it would consider the police’s findings.

‘In 2022, Transport installed clearer signage for motorists on the Bridge following a speed zone and signage review,’ the spokesperson said. 

‘The Sydney Harbour Bridge is not wide enough to fit a moveable barrier system and retain all lanes in what is Sydney’s most important traffic route.

‘In 2015, following a serious collision, the use of a “zipper'” machine, similar to that used on Victoria Road at Drummoyne to move the barrier, was considered. 

‘However, it was found not to be suitable as it would force the removal of one lane from the Bridge, reducing traffic capacity by 15 per cent.’