12-Year-Old Girl Speaks Out After Surviving Crash That Killed Her 3 Siblings: 'I Was Just Scared'

A 12-year-old girl, the sole survivor of a car crash thatkilled three of her siblings, says she feels fortunate to be alive, but wishes she had been able to help her family members.

Michelle Khiev was traveling with her older brothers Tonny, 31, and Johnny, 27, as well as her 14-year-old sister Keo, when their vehicle struck a toll booth on the Atlantic City Expressway, and became “fully engulfed” in flames, New Jersey State Police previously told PEOPLE in a statement.

When the fire broke out, Michelle explained that she “opened the door and got out” — and then immediately became worried for her sister. “I looked to my left to where my sister was sitting and the fire was blocking it.”

Reachthon “Tonny” Khiev, Reachsieh “Johnny” Khiev, Keotepie “Keo” Khiev.GoFundMe

Michelle also shared a message on aGoFundMecreated to help raise money for her family.

“I am safe. But I wish I could say the same about my brothers and sister,” she wrote. “I love and miss Tonny, Johnny and Keo so much.”

The 12-year-old girl went on to extend a message of support to the onlooker who “saved my life.”

“Thank you to Pastor Wil for helping me and keeping me from running back to the car to save my sister Keo,” she wrote.

The pastor shared his own account of the tragedy on social media, after receiving permission from the Khiev family to do so.

“We got to the toll booth to pay and I asked ‘Hey is everyone okay?’ The toll collector kept saying ‘Oh my god, oh my god, I don’t know a car just hit the toll booth,’ " hewrote, noting that after calling 911 for help, he “noticed a girl walking away from the burning car.”

“When we tried to get her to walk but she continued to stumble so I picked her up into my arms and ran to the toll booth offices. I kept saying ‘It’s okay’ and she continued to repeat ‘No it’s not, my brothers and sister are in the car,’ " he added.

Continuing, he recalled, “I won’t forget the sounds or smells, and I won’t forget this brave 12 year old girl who got out of the car, and was desperately thinking of her family. She wanted them out of the car but she did all she could.”

Family friend Jimmy Giang previously told ABC affiliateWPVIthat the brothers, who worked as in-home aides for people with disabilities, had gone home to Atlantic City to surprise their younger sisters for Christmas.

“Unfortunately, it was their best and last Christmas as a family,” their sister Mimi Khiev — who was not in the vehicle at the time — wrote on the GoFundMe page.

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Mimi remembered her brothers for their “caring” natures, which “not only translated through their career, but also through their endless kindness to everyone they encounter.”

Mimi also wrote that her little sister, a freshman at Atlantic City High School, was “such a beautiful, intelligent and very sweet girl.”

As of Thursday, the GoFundMe page has raised over $67,000.

“I want to thank all of you for donating and helping my family,” Michelle wrote in a message shared on the fundraising page Wednesday. “It means so much to us and I know Tonny, Johnny and Keo would rest safe knowing that we won’t struggle too much.”

source: people.com