Singapore— A second foreign worker has died in the collision between a lorry and a stationary tipper truck along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) on Tuesday (Apr 20). He was riding in the back of the lorry, the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) announced on Friday (Apr 23).
The first casualty from the accident was a 33-year-old migrant worker from Bangladesh, Mr Tofazzal Hossain, who died on the day of the collision. He left behind a two-year-old son, widow, ailing mother, and other family members whom he supported financially.
MWC announced that it had “𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐈𝐄 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.”
The group is in touch with the worker’s mother, who also works in Singapore, to render assistance to the family.
MWC will also coordinate with the employer of the worker, Bright Asia Construction, for the documentation and claims needed to file for the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) compensation.
The second deceased worker’s name has not yet been announced.
Fourteen other migrant workers, aged between 23 and 46, were injured in the accident.
On Apr 20, MWC said that nine of the injured workers had been discharged from the hospital after being treated for minor injuries.
In its latest post, MWC said that another worker had been allowed to go home from the hospital, and the patient in ICU had been moved to the High Dependency Unit.
“The MWC was able to speak with all of them to see how they are coping and send them our well-wishes. The workers shared with us that the company has spoken to them and assured them that they would be taken care of. Our team has also passed them our contact numbers to reassure them that MWC is here to support them through their recovery,” the group’s post read.
The group added that they had been in touch with the family of the first migrant worker who died in the accident “to see how else can we help them tide through this very difficult period, until WICA compensation is paid out”.
MWC had written in an earlier post that the accident took place while the workers were en route to the worksite. “They should be protected under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA).”
WICA is a low-cost and quicker alternative to the common law as it lets employees make claims for work-related injuries or diseases without having to file a civil suit under common law, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website.
Members of the public are also welcome to donate to the affected workers through MWC’s charity arm, the Migrant Workers’ Assistance Fund. Contributions can be made on this website.
/TISG
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