Daniel flew from London to Albania for a friend’s wedding but never made it back
A man died in a car crash after he left his best friend’s wedding to ‘grab a phone charger’. Daniel Rjabcevs had flown from Luton Airport in London to Albania for his friend’s wedding.
But while attending the evening celebrations on June 6, the 28-year-old left the venue in his hired car to ‘get a phone charger’. And when he didn’t return to the wedding for a hours, other guests began to get worried.
This is when they discovered that Daniel had been involved in a car crash. His Fiat was ‘smashed from both sides’. Daniel is believed to have suffered catastrophic injuries, including multiple fractures and traumatic brain injuries, and was rushed to hospital for emergency brain surgery.
Unfortunately, surgeons weren’t able to save him and he died as a result of his injuries. Vlad Merkulovs, Daniel’s older brother, had dropped Daniel off at the airport two days before the accident. The 34-year-old said he was informed of Daniel’s death while back home in Hendon where he lives in North West London. The taxi driver says Daniel’s passing is a ‘devastating tragedy’ and ‘changed their family’s life forever’.
Vlad said: “[It’s] a devastating tragedy [and] changed our family’s life forever. Our family is heartbroken. Daniel was a loving son, brother, friend, and a person who brought kindness and positivity into the lives of those around him.
“His loss has left an unimaginable void in our family. He went to the wedding but at some point, he decided to go and get a phone charger. This is what I’ve been told. From what I know he left the wedding at some point to get a phone charger. He got in the car and left the wedding and people at the wedding told me that they worried about him as in the next few hours he didn’t come back. There was no car so they start ringing him.
“He didn’t answer the phone. The people at the wedding then started searching and reached out to the police. My brother’s car, the little Fiat, was smashed from both sides so there was no chance of survival. They did brain surgery. They tried to save him but they said he was in a critical condition and had brain damage. I will always remember that evening [when I was told about my brother’s death].”
Daniel had lived in London his whole life and was working as an architect in the city. His body will have to be transported from Albania to Latvia, where the family is originally from, for the funeral.
Vlad has now set up a GoFundMe for his brother to help with the funeral costs and other expenses the family are currently facing:
He said his brother was a ‘funny, friendly’ individual and they are heartbroken over his passing. Vlad said: “I was his older brother and I treated him like he was my son. Daniel was very funny and friendly.
“He wasn’t just my brother. He was a godfather to my little girl. We feel a lot of pain and it’s traumatic.”
