In the case of the man who was run over by a driverless LRT train at Fajar station back on Mar 24, it was revealed that he was drunk when he fell onto the tracks at 12:42am. Ang Boon Tong, whose body was discovered on the train tracks at about 1am, had 232mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, a coroner’s inquiry heard on Wednesday (Aug 16). That’s almost three times the legal limit of alcohol for drivers.
According to CCTV footage, the 43-year-old staggered around, lost his balance, fell through the barrier gaps onto the tracks and hit his head. But he was still able to sit up. Unfortunately, he could not find his way off the tracks and was run over by an off-service train about seven minutes later, reported Channel NewsAsia.
The only passenger on the train was an SMRT employee ending off his shift and heading back to the depot. He had apparently “heard a sound” when the train hit Ang’s body, but it did not cross his mind to find out what happened.
Ten minutes later, another train pulled into the station and ran over Ang’s body again. That was when station controller Mohamed Ariff Mohamed Yusoff realized the train was moving in a “bumpy and erratic manner”, which raised his suspicions. After the train departed from the station, he discovered the body on the tracks.
Ang was declared dead at the scene by paramedics at 2:20am.
From State Coroner Marvin Bay’s statement, Ang died of multiple injuries “consistent with a run-over” — these included an open skull fracture, numerous rib fractures, and hip, arm and leg fractures. The deceased also had a 15cm-wide wound from his neck to his groin. Both trains had bloodstains on them, but a forensic pathologist could not determine which was the impact that killed Ang.
Of the “truly tragic misadventure”, State Coroner Bay remarked that the driverless trains did not have a mechanism to detect intrusions, and the operator should have informed the public of what commuters can do when such accidents occur, reported TODAY.
Stations on the Bukit Panjang LRT line do not have the sliding doors usually seen at all MRT station platforms.
The court heard that CCTV footage of the LRT line had been under surveillance by a staff member at the operations control centre, but because the employee was “tasked with overseeing the remote closing of (Fajar) station”, the person missed the brief footage that captured Ang’s fall.
Yesterday, Ang’s wife and other family members privately viewed CCTV footage of the incident.
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