Two of four people injured in the car crash outside Lucky Plaza have been discharged from hospital while the other two are still undergoing treatments, a Singapore government official said last night.
Laila F Laudencia and Demet L Limbauan have left the Tan Tock Seng Hospital while Arceli P Nucos and Egnal L Limbauan remain warded, parliamentary secretary for the ministry of social and family development Low Yen Ling wrote in a Facebook post. She had visited the victims at the hospital with foreign affairs minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Families mourn victims in Lucky Plaza accident
“Many of us were shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of two lives and the injuries suffered. We feel for them all, especially in such a time as this, when families and loved ones gather to celebrate and mark the close of the year together,” her post read.
Six women — all of whom were Filipino domestic workers — were sitting by the railings outside the Orchard Road shopping center when an out-of-control black Honda rammed into them before plunging several meters down onto a service road. Two of the women, Abigail D Leste and Arlyn P Nucos, were killed.
A fundraising campaign has been set up by the Center for Domestic Employees to support the victims and their families. More than S$50,000 has been raised by publication time.
Filipinas killed after car ploughs into them outside Lucky Plaza
The 64-year-old male driver of the black Honda has been arrested for dangerous driving causing death.
CCTV footage circulating online showed the private-hire driver making a U-turn in front of the mall’s drop off point on Nutmeg Road when it suddenly accelerated and crashed, shocking the dozens of people hanging out at the area outside the Lucky Plaza shopping center, which is a famous spot among foreign workers on Sundays.
The mall is also located close to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital, which offers accident and emergency services but was not activated by emergency responders from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, or SCDF, when the incident took place.
In addressing confusions online over why the victims were instead taken to the much further Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Mount Elizabeth’s CEO Noel Yeo said: “Our A&E team would have reacted immediately to help stabilize the injured while waiting for the SCDF to arrive, had we been activated.”
He added: “Our hospital and ambulance services are not part of the SCDF’s list of medical providers. This means that the hospital will not be activated by the SCDF even if such an incident is within close proximity. While the hospital is capable of treating emergencies, it is not set up like the restructured hospitals for severe traumatic conditions, which include multiple trauma and extensive burns.”
Tan Tock Seng Hospital, located in Novena, is equipped with a trauma center and attends to the largest number of trauma patients in Singapore.
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Families mourn victims in Lucky Plaza accident
Filipinas killed after car ploughs into them outside Lucky Plaza
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