Thousands to attend the funeral of two teenagers who died in Ely crash

The deaths of Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, sparked a night-long riot.

Floral tributes left to Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans on Snowden Road, Ely, Cardiff (Rod Minchin/PA) (PA Wire)

Thousands of people are expected to attend the funeral of two teenagers whose deaths sparked a riot in Cardiff.

A joint service for Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15 will be held at the Church of the Resurrection on Grand Avenue in Ely at 1pm, followed by a burial and wake.

The boys, who were best friends, died on the evening of Monday May 22 when they crashed on a Sur-Ron bike minutes after CCTV captured them being followed by a police van.

The tragedy sparked hours of disorder in the city suburb which included violent clashes with police and damage to property.

Due to an ongoing investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) into the actions of South Wales Police, the funeral on Thursday is being managed by Cardiff Council.

Between 2,000-4,000 people are due to flood the street outside the church and road closures will be in force from midday until 2pm.

Local schools are closing for the afternoon and bus routes are being diverted around the area.

Friends of the two boys have organised two limousines, four hearses and eight Rolls-Royce cars along with between 200-400 motorbikes for the procession.

The families of the boys have asked that attendees of the funeral wear blue and that a moment of silence be held during the service in their memory.

After the service, the boys will be taken to their final resting place in Western Cemetery at 2.30pm.

Their families have arranged for them to be buried together in the same grave as they had been close since meeting in nursery school.

A wake is to be held at the Vale Sports Arena, a large venue located around six miles from the church in Penarth.

In a Facebook post announcing details of the funeral last month, a family friend said: “Please wear what you feel comfortable in.

“All we ask is that you incorporate something blue.

“Let’s celebrate the lives of these two young boys and come together as one to remember them and show how loved they are.”

The Reverend Canon Jan Gould said: “It’s important for the family especially, but actually for the whole community have some closure now and to begin to move on.

“My hope is that moving on from this now the community can begin to rebuild.

“And hopefully the families will find some peace from the service.”

Canon Gould said since their deaths and the riot the church has remained open all day to allow people to come and light a candle and talk about Kyrees and Harvey.

She said she would be preaching about the Gospel passage of Jesus stilling the storm.

“I’m going to be talking about how grief can sometimes feel like a storm that’s overwhelming and we don’t know how to feel,” Canon Gould said.

“We can have all kinds of feelings that we can’t manage and I’m going to be encouraging them to reach out for that peace that Jesus brought when he stilled the storm and that he longs to still the storms of our lives.”