Just a little over a month after a cardboard auntie was tragically knocked down and killed (by a BMW, no less), another elderly lady suffered the same fate yesterday in Bedok.
78-year-old Poh Ah Gin had been collecting cardboard behind a coffeeshop at Block 123 along Bedok North Street 2 when a taxi mounted the kerb and smashed into her twice, The Straits Times reports. Poh — who lived alone — was pronounced dead by paramedics who arrived on scene later on.
The 64-year-old Comfort taxi driver was said to have ended his shift and was trying to park his cab. He lost control of the Hyundai Sonata however as it surged backwards, mounting the kerb and hitting the woman. After switching gears, the cab surged forward and hit other vehicles before lunging back, hitting the cardboard auntie again.
The damage left in the wake of the incident can be described as extreme. Poh had bled severely from her knees and stomach. A maroon car and a silver van were badly damaged by the impact of the taxi, while a lorry and two other vans parked behind them were also damaged.
Before paramedics and police arrived, two doctors from a nearby clinic rushed out to treat Poh — one immediately performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation while the other placed an oxygen mask on the elderly woman. Unfortunately, she died soon after.
The shocked taxi driver was arrested by the police later on for causing death by a negligent act. According to his son, the cabby is an experienced driver who did not have any traffic offences, and parks at the same stretch of parking lots almost every day.
