Corporal First Class (CFC) Liu Kai succumbed to his injuries on Nov 3, a tragic result of an alleged safety lapse during military training. A Bionix Armoured Fighting Vehicle reversed onto the Land Rover truck he was in, and the 22-year-old full-time National Serviceman (NSF) was pronounced dead not long after the accident.
Investigations are still ongoing into the circumstances surrounding CFC Liu’s death — an impartial Committee of Inquiry (COI) independent of the Ministry of Defence had been convened to determine the facts and make recommendations to rectify any lapses found. Yesterday, Minister for Defence Dr. Ng Eng Hen provided further insight into the accident in response to queries from Members of Parliament.
- A Transport Operator in the Singapore Armed Forces, CFC Liu was in charge of driving a Land Rover for an exercise at the Jalan Murai Training Area. Next to him was a trainer involved in the exercise.
- The truck had been stationary behind a Bionix vehicle, which was part of the exercise.
- The Bionix responded to a simulated enemy encounter and reversed away from simulated enemy fire.
- Unfortunately, the armored vehicle reversed into the Land Rover, partially mounting the truck. A picture of this scene was leaked online.
- The trainer managed to escape unscathed. CFC Liu, however, sustained serious injuries.
- Training was immediately halted and an on-site medic attended to him. The SAF Emergency Ambulance Service, unit medical officer, and Singapore Civil Defence Force were activated and arrived soon after to attend to CFC Liu.
- The young man succumbed to his injuries not long after and was pronounced dead by the medical officers around 10.35am.
Unanswered questions
Without pinning the blame on anyone, Dr. Ng pointed out that the accident can be attributed to many factors, which for now remain unknown.
“There are obviously a number of questions that need to be answered in determining the cause of this incident.
They include: Were safety protocols followed by the crew of the Land Rover and the Bionix vehicle during this phase of the exercise? Were the vehicle commander, driver, and crew of the Bionix aware of the Land Rover behind them and did they conduct their reversal safely? What was the physical state of exercise participants and did it have an effect on their attention to safety protocols? Was there any mechanical malfunction of vehicles or platforms? Did Safety Officers and Vehicle Commanders perform their responsibilities? The COI and Police investigations will fully examine these and other related questions into the death of CFC Liu.
When all the facts have been gathered, I will give Parliament a full account, as we have done previously in this House.”
Dr. Ng assured Parliament that MINDEF and SAF will implement the necessary changes in accordance with the recommendations made by the COI after the investigations are complete.
“The SAF will continue in its efforts to instill a strong safety culture to achieve zero training fatalities – which can only be achieved if every soldier has an ingrained concern for the well-being of himself and his fellow soldiers,” he concluded.
“This will be emphasized to every commander and soldier.”
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