The relatives of a 23-year-old Indian construction worker (and engineering diploma holder), who died in an on-site accident in Singapore in early December 2023, have sought an explanation from the authorities.
The Tamil Nadu-based family of Ponraman Eazhumalai wants to know about the site conditions under which the tragedy happened, said a year-end report in The Straits Times.
Ponraman Eazhumalai, who had worked in Singapore for only eight months as a concrete pump assistant, died on December 3. The accident that killed him occurred on December 2 at the worksite for the upcoming Tengah integrated rail and bus depot at 770 Jurong Road.
The victim was caught between the chassis of a concrete pump truck and a retracting outrigger. According to the ST report: “Outriggers are retractable legs that extend out and away from a concrete pump to provide stability and prevent it from tipping over.” The fatal mishap took place around 11.20pm, as per information from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
Circumstances of the death are still murky — what is known is that at first, the injury did not appear to be life-threatening, but within the next day, Eazhumalai was dead.
While the family in Tamil Nadu has been told about the accident by the Singapore authorities, they do not know the details of the injuries sustained by Ponraman Eazhumalai. He was the breadwinner, and the family is feeling distressed both mentally and financially.
The young man’s uncles also work in Singapore, so the family in India is trying to make enquiries through them. “Why wasn’t an ambulance called, and why didn’t they take him to the nearest hospital? His life could have been saved,” they said, as quoted by ST. The nearest hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, was only a 10-minute drive from the worksite.
Without commenting on this specific case, a MOM statement said that as a general safety measure, workers should keep a safe distance from construction equipment and machinery, such as concrete pump trucks and mobile cranes, while they are in operation. A safety zone should also be clearly marked out to prevent unauthorised access.
The Land Transport Authority, developer of the Tengah Depot project, said that it was trying to help the deceased Indian man’s family and co-operating with investigations.
—With inputs from Press Trust of India