A 77-year-old woman died after she was allegedly struck by a minibus in Jurong West and dragged for about 1.5km beneath the vehicle before it reached the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), leaving her family devastated and searching for answers.
The fatal accident happened on the morning of October 16. The woman’s son, surnamed Huang, said he initially assumed his mother had left for work when he did not see her at home that morning. He was later contacted by the police and informed that she had died in an accident along the PIE towards Changi Airport.
Huang rushed to the scene and subsequently learnt that his mother had allegedly been hit near their home at the junction of Jurong West Street 61 and Jurong West Avenue 4 before being dragged to the expressway.
“My mum was in a very bad state, she was trapped under the vehicle. She must’ve suffered a lot of pain and felt helpless,” he said, describing the distress of learning what had happened.
The family was particularly troubled by the circumstances surrounding the incident. Huang questioned how his mother had become trapped beneath the minibus and why the driver continued travelling after the collision.
As his mother’s only child, he said the loss had left the family heartbroken. He also noted that the driver had not contacted them following the tragedy.
The 66-year-old minibus driver allegedly left the scene before the authorities arrived. He was later arrested for driving without due care and attention causing death.
Police and Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel had been alerted to the accident at about 7.10am. A paramedic pronounced the woman dead at the scene.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the full circumstances of the collision have yet to be established.
The tragedy has renewed concerns about road safety and the devastating consequences of hit-and-run incidents. For Huang and his family, however, the immediate challenge is coping with the sudden loss of a loved one while waiting for answers about how the fatal collision occurred.
