Family of cricket show host killed in Southwest Freeway wreck takes legal action

Houston police officers investigate a fatal crash along the Southwest Freeway near Westpark Drive on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. Houston police officers investigate a fatal crash along the Southwest Freeway near Westpark Drive on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. Photo: Jay R. Jordan Photo: Jay R. Jordan Image 1 of / 47 Caption Close Family of cricket show host killed in Southwest Freeway wreck takes legal action 1 / 47 Back to Gallery

Attorneys for the family of a cricket-themed talk show killed Tuesday in a violent crash along the Southwest Freeway are seeking legal action against the trucking company involved in the fatal wreck.

Khurram Ibrahim, 43, was behind the wheel of a BMW travelling south on the freeway near Westpark Drive around 12:45 p.m., according to the Houston Police Department.

Just on the other side of the Westpark Drive overpass, an 18-wheeler was stalled out in the middle of the freeway, police said.

Ibrahim – traveling at "highway speeds," police said – slammed into the back of the stopped truck, killing him almost instantly.

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Officers on scene told the Houston Chronicle that the truck driver had placed orange traffic cones behind his truck to alert drivers that the big rig was stalled out.

But lawyers for Ibrahim's family disagree, saying eyewitnesses have told them there were no cones in place.

The attorneys, Mo Aziz and Zafar Tahir, filed a temporary restraining order against Knights Transportation, Inc. and Swift Transportation, Inc. Thursday to help preserve evidence the companies have related to the crash.

"Khurram was a Houston-proud citizen, and it is ironic that his life was extinguished on a Houston freeway due to reckless actions of the truck," Tahir said. "His young family and the whole city (are) in a state of disbelief and shock."

Ibrahim hosted the Houston-based TV series "Cricket World" on a Pakistani cable channel TVONE for nearly four years.

"For his love of cricket, he would travel all over the world to watch cricket," Ibrahim's longtime friend and colleague Dr. Kashif Ansari said. "I've never come across in all my years of life a person like him. He was all about love."

Ibrahim came to the U.S. from Pakistan three decades ago and graduated from Texas A&M University, Ansari said. He lived with his wife and their three children.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message