6-year-old girl dead, mother injured in accident near Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

In an update on Sunday (Feb 8), the police said they have arrested a 38-year-old female driver for driving without reasonable consideration causing death.

An accident occurred in Chinatown on Friday (Feb 6), resulting in the death of a six-year-old girl and injuries to her mother, 31.

Videos posted online by Facebook user Nguyen Thi Hanh show the location to be a carpark next to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.

A man, presumably the girl's father, is clutching the child in his arms and crying while a trail of blood can be spotted nearby. A woman lies conscious on the ground next to them.

A car can be seen stationary next to the family as well, with what appears to be its female driver looking frantic.

Passers-by, including an apparent medical professional in scrubs, can also be seen attempting to lend assistance or call for help.

In another video, paramedics are on the scene, doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the girl.

Claiming to have witnessed the whole accident unfold, Nguyen wrote: "A woman was driving out of the car park. She didn't look at the pedestrians on her right; she only looked to her left when she turned right. 

"Then, her front wheel ran over the little girl's stomach, then over the mother's leg, and then the woman accelerated, causing the rear wheel to run over the mother's stomach."

She added that, in her panicked state, she could not remember if the rear wheel had run over the child again.

"At the time of the accident, her husband wasn't with her; only the mother and daughter, with me behind them," she wrote, adding that the man appeared on the scene around two minutes later.

She also alleged the driver came out of the car and "tried to explain that she had done nothing wrong" to him.

Nguyen believed that the victims were tourists.

In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said that they were alerted to an accident involving a car and two pedestrians along South Bridge Road at about 11.50am.

"Two female pedestrians, aged six and 31, were conveyed conscious to the hospital where the six-year-old female pedestrian subsequently passed away," they added.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force stated that they were taken to Singapore General Hospital.

A 38-year-old female car driver was arrested for driving without reasonable consideration causing death, the police added. Investigations are ongoing.

drimac@asiaone.com