Driver crushed to death by oil tanker

A driver was crushed to death by his parked oil tanker on Friday, when it unexpectedly rolled forward and pinned him against a wall.

Singaporean Chun Kum Soon died in the accident at the construction site of Sengkang executive condominium The Vales.

Police said they received a call for help at around 3.30pm from the Anchorvale Crescent site.

A spokesman said: "Upon arrival, it was established that an industrial accident had occurred and a 42-year-old man was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene." He added that investigations are ongoing.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Chun had parked the oil tanker next to a wall and alighted to refuel an excavator.

The vehicle suddenly rolled forward and pinned him against the wall before he could escape.

When The Sunday Times visited the site yesterday, a Bangladeshi traffic controller said the ground where the accident occurred was uneven, and the vehicle's handbrake might not have been engaged, causing it to slide.

Some members of the victim's family were at the site at about 4.30pm yesterday to conduct funeral rites, accompanied by a Buddhist monk.

Relatives guided Mr Chun's four-year-old son in offering joss sticks as the monk chanted verses over a yellow T-shirt and trousers belonging to the victim, spread out on the ground where he died.

Mr Tommy Yu, a neighbour of the Chuns in Woodlands, said Mrs Chun was not present as "she would not have been able to control her emotions".

He added: "She has been sobbing non-stop since collecting her husband's body on Friday."

Mr Yu is chairman of volunteer group Love & Unity Volunteers Establishment, which is seeing to the funeral arrangements for the family.

Although he did not know Mr Chun personally, he said he was moved to help by the plight of his widow, who is in her 30s, and young son. "(Mr Chun) was the sole breadwinner. How will they continue without him?"

The developers of The Vales are SingHaiYi Group and Kay Lim Holdings Joint Venture, while its builders are China Construction (South Pacific) Development. Neither could be reached for comment yesterday.

oliviaho@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 10, 2016.
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