Shocked passers-by watch as the police remove the woman's body from a drain along East Coast Road near Siglap Centre (below). She was covered with a table cloth from a nearby restaurant. Her severed leg was found near the cab. Pictures: GAVIN FOO
Pictures: GAVIN FOO
5 minutes before her body is found in drain 1 KILLED, 1 HURT IN SIGLAP CRASH
By Celine Lim March 06, 2008
HE was waiting for a pedestrian to cross in front of his van when a loud 'bang' resounded behind him.
A split second later, an uprooted metal railing flew through the air, grazed Mr Sam Gandhi's van and landed in front of the pedestrian.
Mr Gandhi, 46, a businessman, said: 'The railing hit the man's legs and he fell to the ground.
'Simultaneously, a taxi crashed into the drain a few metres to my right.'
Unknown to him, a severed leg had also landed behind his van.
It belonged to a woman pedestrian, who had been flung more than 15m, or about a bus length, through the air during the accident at noon yesterday.
She landed in the drain a few metres away from the taxi and died on the spot.
A police spokesman said 'an accident between a taxi, a van and two pedestrians' had taken place along East Coast Road towards Siglap Centre and Upper East Coast Road.
He said the victim was a Filipino in her 20s.
Witnesses said the taxi was approaching a row of shops and eateries, near The Thames pub and Genesis bistro, when it mounted the kerb.
A trail of destruction, including a crushed bicycle, two toppled dustbins and four uprooted metal railings, marked the taxi's trajectory before it spun sharply to the left and plunged into the drain.
Mr Gandhi said he quickly got out of his van to help the fallen pedestrian, who was in front of a 7-Eleven outlet.
A few minutes later, he decided to check on the cabby as a small crowd had gathered to attend to the man.
But when he rounded the back of the van to get to the taxi, he spotted a severed leg.
Mr Gandhi said: 'I was totally freaked out! I just left it and walked away, what a sight.'
He said the left leg had been severed below the knee.
Mr Tan Eng Kok, 42, a renovation contractor, said in Mandarin: 'I realised that there had to be another victim because the injured man's legs were intact.'
But where was the victim?
Mr Tan said he was sitting outside a shop in front of the accident scene reading the newspapers when he heard the crash.
He said: 'I got up immediately and saw something flying past across the drain, but I thought it was a dustbin.
'I never thought it could be a person. It was a Caucasian man at the bus stop who first noticed the body.'
A waiter, who wanted to be known only as Shiva, 22, said the search for the other accident victim lasted almost five minutes.
He said: 'Then, someone told me to look in the drain. I took one look, saw the body and walked away.
'I was too scared to look again. How would I sleep at night if I had a second look?'
He explained that the woman's body was bent at an awkward angle.
She was wearing a yellow T-shirt, black pullover and black capri pants.
Mr Shiva said the woman had a marketing trolley with vegetables in it.
Parts of the smashed trolley could be seen along the road and kerb.
He said: 'I couldn't see what she looked like as her face was all bloodied and covered by her hair.'
He then took a table cloth from the restaurant, and handed it to the Caucasian man who climbed into the drain to cover the body.
Police and SCDF spokesmen said the woman was pronounced dead by paramedics at about 12.30pm.
They said the other pedestrian, a Chinese man in his mid-40s, was sent to Changi General Hospital with bruises on his left leg and abrasions on his right arm.
CABBY UNHURT
It is understood that the taxi driver was unhurt.
He was last seen in the back seat of a police car.
The police spokesman said the 39-year-old man is assisting with investigations.
Ms Tammy Tan, the group corporate communications officer of ComfortDelGro, said: 'We are shocked and horrified to learn of the accident, and our hearts go out to the family of the pedestrian.
'We are trying to get in touch with them to render our assistance.
'We will also assist the police in their investigations. In the meantime, we have suspended the driver with immediate effect pending the outcome of the investigations.'
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ELECTRIC NEWS
Employer hides news from daughter:
We said maid had to go home
MAID KILLED AT SIGLAPBy Celine Lim
March 07, 2008
Employer hides news from daughter:
We said maid had to go home
MAID KILLED AT SIGLAPBy Celine Lim
March 07, 2008
THEIR little girl, 8, does not know that someone she loves dearly is dead.
Her parents are not sure how she will take the news that the family's maid, Mrs Margie Balitaan Abarquez, was killed in an accident on Tuesday.
Mrs Abarquez's employer, who declined to be named, said: 'We're not sure if our daughter can accept Margie's death as she's still young.'
Mrs Abarquez, 28, was hit by a taxi along East Coast Road, in the direction of Siglap Centre and Upper East Coast Road. The impact severed her left leg and sent her flying more than 15m through the air before she landed in a drain.
She was pronounced dead by the paramedics at 12.30pm.
Her employer said: 'We told our daughter that Margie had to go back to the Philippines because her son is not feeling well.
Mrs Abarquez's employer, who declined to be named, said: 'We're not sure if our daughter can accept Margie's death as she's still young.'
Mrs Abarquez, 28, was hit by a taxi along East Coast Road, in the direction of Siglap Centre and Upper East Coast Road. The impact severed her left leg and sent her flying more than 15m through the air before she landed in a drain.
She was pronounced dead by the paramedics at 12.30pm.
Her employer said: 'We told our daughter that Margie had to go back to the Philippines because her son is not feeling well.
'Margie got along very well with our daughter and loved her very much. Maybe it's because she had two sons, who are 8 and 9.'
The family first met Mrs Abarquez through her older sister, who worked for the family for two years before leaving last year for a higher-paying job in Hong Kong.
Mrs Abarquez took over her older sister's job last October.
Her employer said: 'Before Margie started working for us, she used to visit her sister at our house on her days off.
'We could see they were very close to each other.'
DEVASTATED
She said she spoke to Margie's sister the evening of the accident.
She said: 'Margie's sister was crying. She was devastated. She kept asking me, 'Why, why, why?' But I had no answer for her.'
Mrs Abarquez left her husband and two young sons in the Philippines more than a year ago to work as a maid here.
She had apparently worked for three employers earlier, her current employer said.
The employer was at work when the accident happened and only realised that something was wrong after 3pm, when her father-in-law, who was at home, called her in the office.
She said: 'He was very worried because Margie went out at noon and wasn't back yet. It wasn't like her. She has always been responsible.'
Mrs Abarquez had left word that she was going to the pharmacy. Her employer said the traffic police called their Siglap residence soon after.
She returned the call from the office and found out that Mrs Abarquez had been in an accident.
She recalled: 'I asked if Margie was seriously injured, if she was in hospital.
'But it was only after verifying that I was her employer that the officer told me she had died on the spot.
'I was shocked. It was so sudden. You don't expect a person to go out and never come back again.'
Her employer said she thought Mrs Abarquez had been jaywalking or crossing the road at first.
'But she was just walking on the kerb,' she said, shaking her head.
'She was in the right place at the wrong time.'
She said she had not realised how bad Mrs Abarquez's injuries were until she identified the body in the mortuary yesterday morning.
She and her husband then arranged for a short prayer session by the pastor of Christ Methodist Church, to be held this morning.
Mrs Abarquez's body will be flown back to the Philippines after that, so her family can take a 'last look' at her.
Her employer declined to reveal how much the arrangements cost, except that it was 'a fair bit'.
She also said they will send 'some money' to Mrs Abarquez's family, with whom they have been in contact.
MAIN BREADWINNER
She said: 'I'm not sure if her husband is employed or doing odd jobs. I think her family depended on her as the main breadwinner.'
She described the maid as a 'happy girl, who is good at what she does'.
Mrs Abarquez seemed to have been very much a part of her employer's family. She attended the same church as the family.
In January, the family bought her a cake and some presents to celebrate her 28th birthday.
One of the family's neighbours, a 77-year-old housewife who declined to be named, was shocked to hear of Mrs Abarquez's death.
She said: 'I had heard someone died in the accident, but I didn't know it was her. She was a friendly, nice girl.
'Poor thing. She's so young, and to just die like that... what a tragedy.'
A police spokesman said the cabby involved in the accident, a 39-year-old Chinese man, has been released on bail, but is assisting the police with their investigations.
The family first met Mrs Abarquez through her older sister, who worked for the family for two years before leaving last year for a higher-paying job in Hong Kong.
Mrs Abarquez took over her older sister's job last October.
Her employer said: 'Before Margie started working for us, she used to visit her sister at our house on her days off.
'We could see they were very close to each other.'
DEVASTATED
She said she spoke to Margie's sister the evening of the accident.
She said: 'Margie's sister was crying. She was devastated. She kept asking me, 'Why, why, why?' But I had no answer for her.'
Mrs Abarquez left her husband and two young sons in the Philippines more than a year ago to work as a maid here.
She had apparently worked for three employers earlier, her current employer said.
The employer was at work when the accident happened and only realised that something was wrong after 3pm, when her father-in-law, who was at home, called her in the office.
She said: 'He was very worried because Margie went out at noon and wasn't back yet. It wasn't like her. She has always been responsible.'
Mrs Abarquez had left word that she was going to the pharmacy. Her employer said the traffic police called their Siglap residence soon after.
She returned the call from the office and found out that Mrs Abarquez had been in an accident.
She recalled: 'I asked if Margie was seriously injured, if she was in hospital.
'But it was only after verifying that I was her employer that the officer told me she had died on the spot.
'I was shocked. It was so sudden. You don't expect a person to go out and never come back again.'
Her employer said she thought Mrs Abarquez had been jaywalking or crossing the road at first.
'But she was just walking on the kerb,' she said, shaking her head.
'She was in the right place at the wrong time.'
She said she had not realised how bad Mrs Abarquez's injuries were until she identified the body in the mortuary yesterday morning.
She and her husband then arranged for a short prayer session by the pastor of Christ Methodist Church, to be held this morning.
Mrs Abarquez's body will be flown back to the Philippines after that, so her family can take a 'last look' at her.
Her employer declined to reveal how much the arrangements cost, except that it was 'a fair bit'.
She also said they will send 'some money' to Mrs Abarquez's family, with whom they have been in contact.
MAIN BREADWINNER
She said: 'I'm not sure if her husband is employed or doing odd jobs. I think her family depended on her as the main breadwinner.'
She described the maid as a 'happy girl, who is good at what she does'.
Mrs Abarquez seemed to have been very much a part of her employer's family. She attended the same church as the family.
In January, the family bought her a cake and some presents to celebrate her 28th birthday.
One of the family's neighbours, a 77-year-old housewife who declined to be named, was shocked to hear of Mrs Abarquez's death.
She said: 'I had heard someone died in the accident, but I didn't know it was her. She was a friendly, nice girl.
'Poor thing. She's so young, and to just die like that... what a tragedy.'
A police spokesman said the cabby involved in the accident, a 39-year-old Chinese man, has been released on bail, but is assisting the police with their investigations.
1 comment:
This is a tragic, tragic event. It's a widely-known fact that taxi drivers are one of the most reckless drivers on the roads these days, and have caused countless near accidents. How quickly was this driver going on this road by the way!? When will such reckless cabbies realise that just one second of impatience can lead to such insurmountable damage and end lives?
He got off unhurt in this case, but I wonder how he can face himself, now that he has so much blood on his hands.
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