A man died after he was hit by a train on the Bukit Panjang LRT early Friday (24th March) morning. SMRT, which operates the LRT, said that a body was spotted on the tracks at Fajar LRT Station after the last train in service left the platform at about 1:00am. "The police and SCDF were immediately alerted and arrived on site shortly after. We are extending our full cooperation to the police in carrying out their investigations," said Ms. Margaret Teo, SMRT's Head of Corporate Marketing and Communications.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at 1:05am and sent one fire engine and one ambulance. "A male Chinese was pronounced dead at scene by paramedics," the SCDF said.
Police said it was informed that a man was run over by an LRT train at Fajar station after he had fallen onto the tracks at about 1:00am. The Straits Times understands the man, who was in his 40s, was found without any identification. The police are investigating the unnatural death.
While many residents said they did not notice anything unusual last night, some heard noises from the station. "I heard a scratching noise and a boom around 1:00am, but I thought it was just workers working," said domestic helper Ms. Asrotulida, who goes by one name. "I didn't look to see what happened, and went back to sleep as it was late," added the 30-year old, who lives near the station. "Sometimes, there is noise due to the works downstairs."
"I came home around 1:45am, and saw an ambulance, fire engine and about six police cars parked at Fajar station. But there was no one around," said Ms. Fiona Neo, 25, who is unemployed. One commuter said the first train was slightly delayed. "Around 4:40am, I went out to take the LRT to Pending station as usual. It generally comes around 4:55am but service seemed to be delayed today," said nearby resident Mr. Tay Seow Song, 65, who had been heading out to work as a bus driver on Friday morning.
When The Straits Times visited Fajar station on Friday morning, services appeared to be operating as per normal. This is not the first fatality on the LRT line, which opened in 1999. In 2000, Mr. See Chau Lai, a hawker assistant, died after he was hit by a train near Jelapang Station of the same LRT line. A coroner's inquiry found that he walked along the tracks after having too much to drink. That was the first fatality since the Bukit Panjang LRT started operations.
In 2010, a LRT technician died of injuries sustained after being hit by a train at Phoenix Station. Mr. Chia Teck Heng was checking the power rail between Phoenix and Bukit Panjang stations. This month, SMRT Trains was fined a record $400,000 for a fatal accident on 22nd March last year, when two trainees were hit by a train shortly after they stepped onto the tracks.
