Man dies after falling during night out with friends

He had been binge drinking and just as he moved off from one of the locations, Mr Yeow Thiam Hock tripped and fell.

Mr Yeow, a cleaner in his 50s, apparently suffered head injuries from his fall on Thursday and died in hospital a day later.

His friend, who was with him at the time of the incident, told The New Paper on Sunday that Mr Yeow is believed to have started drinking before 6pm.

Mr Yazid Abdul Rahman, 49, a supervisor, said: "He kept calling me to meet up for a drink.

"When I met him at the toilet where he worked at Bangkit Road, he had already downed half a bottle of cognac by himself."

Mr Yeow then said he wanted to meet his friends at a coffee shop at Jalan Todak, near Upper Thomson Road. There, the group of five finished eight bottles of beer.

Mr Yazid said he was asked by Mr Yeow's friends to accompany the man home.

"But he was very stubborn and decided to go to his sister's pub across the road," he said.

"There, he ordered another bucket of beer. We drank two small bottles and returned the rest."

Mr Yeow then asked Mr Yazid to go somewhere else with him but he did not say where.

"He said: 'Just follow. I'll take you to another place,'" said Mr Yazid.

As the pair moved out of the pub on Upper Thomson Road, Mr Yazid walked about three steps ahead of Mr Yeow.

"Suddenly, he shouted: 'Eh, eh, eh!'

"I turned around and saw him falling backwards. I wanted to catch him but he was too far.

"He hit his head on the floor and became unconscious immediately."

Mr Yazid tried to wake him up by slapping him but to no avail.

"I called out his name but he didn't respond," he said.

"I checked his pulse and breathing, they were still there."

A pub patron helped to call the ambulance.

Mr Yazid said he noticed that Mr Yeow was different from his usual self that day.

"He said he wanted to 'go in already'. When his friend asked where he was going in to, he didn't answer," said Mr Yazid.

Mr Yazid, who has known Mr Yeow for more than 15 years, described him as being "like a brother".

He said: "Every time he was bored and wanted to drink, he would call me, maybe once a week or every other week."

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to a case at 195, Upper Thomson Road, at 9.55pm.

A man in his 50s was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in an ambulance, added the spokesman.

chaihyn@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 21, 2016.
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