Rep. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, has condoled with the families of five Nigerians who died in a car crash in New York, U.S. on Sunday morning.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the lawmaker expressed sadness over the death of the five Nigerians which included two children.

She urged the families and friends of the deceased to take heart, describing the death of the Nigerians as "shocking, sad and painful."

Dabiri-Erewa prayed God to grant the deceased eternal rest and their loved ones the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss and advised Nigerians to always obey traffic rules at all times.

NAN recalled that five Nigerians, including two children, were killed in the early hours of Sunday in a car crash near the Van Wyck expressway in Queens, New York.

The New York correspondent of the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that three of the eight persons in the vehicle survived the accident.

The accident occurred when the SUV in which the deceased were travelling swerved after speeding through two red lights, slammed into a concrete pillar and somersaulted before bursting into flames.

The victims were said to be indigenes of Imo and had attended a two-day annual convention of the Arondizuogu Patriotic Union National Congress of North America.

It was also learnt that some of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle, including a 26-year-old man, whom rescue personnel found sitting on a curb.

The driver, a 45-year-old woman whose name has not been made public resides in the Bronx and was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The third survivor, a seven-year-old boy was in stable condition.

Mr Don Akamnonu told NAN that the Imo community was yet to get the names of the deceased.

Investigators had visited the banquet hall where the event took place, asking about the nature of the Saturday night gathering and the time it ended.