Four teens killed in horrific car crash on Long Island; teen at wheel only had learner's permit

State cops say the car was heading westbound when it veered into a wooded area, striking several trees.
They died on Dead Man’s Curve.

Four Queens teenagers were killed Monday when their car — driven by a 17-year-old with only a learner’s permit — sped off a treacherous stretch of a Long Island highway and wrapped itself around a tree.

Joseph Beer lost control of the 2012 Subaru Impreza that friends said his parents just bought for him after he “failed to negotiate a curve,” State Police officials said.

The car, which Beer had been given for graduating early from Richmond Hill High School, split in two — and tossed the teens out like rag dolls.

Peter Anthony, Chris Khan, Neil Rajaba and Darian Ramnarine — all of them 18, three of them popular graduates of Richmond Hill High School — were killed instantly and pronounced dead at the scene.

Beer survived and was being treated at a Long Island hospital.

“He’s going to be okay,” said a neighbor. “He knows that his friends died.”

Khan’s body was identified by his extended family.

“About 20 of us went to identify the body,” his grieving dad, Somdat Bhawan, 41. “We are a large family. We stick together in moments like this.”

Rajaba attended Abraham Lincoln High School and “was a funny guy,” lifelong friend Kevin Persaud, 17, said. “We grew up together. We used to make a lot of jokes, ride bikes, play games, have sleepovers together.”
“This is a terrible tragedy,” Persaud added. “I can’t believe they’re all dead.”
Persaud was the among the dozens of students who made a pilgrimage to the crash site, where the mourners lit candles, left bouquets of flowers and shed tears for their lost friends.
Some handled the anguish better than others. One angry teenager, apparently furious with Beer, barked out, “Tell the driver I’m coming for him” before splitting.
Others respectfully collected sad mementos from the scene — eyeglasses, flip-flops, a single gym shoe — before leaving.
Beer, who like his buddies was also from Richmond Hill, should not have been at the wheel in the first place, police said.