NEWS (23/5/07) Boy, 8, dies in accident at Simei
AN eight-year-old Chinese boy died yesterday after being hit by a lorry at Simei Street 3 — just a few hundred metres from Changi General Hospital (CGH) where his mother worked as an enrolled nurse.
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The Primary Three student from the nearby Changkat Primary School had head injuries and was taken unconscious to CGH, where he was pronounced dead soon after arrival at 4.15pm.
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A hospital spokesperson, who described the scene at the hospital as "upsetting", said the boy's family was too distraught to talk to the media.
A passer-by who had heard a "loud bang" said she later saw the boy lying in a pool of blood in the waiting bay between Simei MRT station and Eastpoint Mall. The lorry had also stopped in the bay.
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She said the entrance was usually sealed off "except when delivery trucks are loading and unloading".
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But Mr Jason Wong, a Simei resident whose son is also from Changkat Primary School, claimed that the bay was not meant for delivery vehicles and was only cordoned off by a nylon string that could be untied easily.
"The sign there reads: 'No entrance for unauthorised vehicles'," said Mr Wong.
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Lorries often reverse slowly in the bay "with no one to guide them in", he added.
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Given the high pedestrian traffic in the area, he questioned the lack of precautions.
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The lorry driver, a Chinese man in his 50s, has been arrested and police are investigating the accident. — SHERALYN TAY
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