A 25-year-old man was arrested for causing the death of his two close friends, aged 42 and 25, by what police called a “rash act” while driving on Bukit Timah Road. The van driver was also suspected of drinking while speeding at the same time. Police are investigating the accident further.
Early on Sunday morning, October 21, police received a call regarding a van that was seen speeding on Bukit Timah Road. According to the report, the van mounted the left curb and crashed into a tree near KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).
The two men who died in the accident were Zhao Hongxing, 42, and a younger man only identified as Alan, 25.
At around 3:10AM, all three were on their way home after spending the night celebrating Alan’s birthday when they crashed at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Mackenzie Road.
A witness has since surfaced with evidence of the accident – associate engineer Anders Tan, 27. He was on the same road in a car driven by a friend when they witnessed the accident up ahead of them. Their dashboard camera captured the incident on video.
Tan’s videos are labeled “Accident at Bukit Timah Road (1)” and “Accident at Bukit Timah Road (2)”. Based on the time counter at the bottom left corner, video 2 is the first part and video 1 is the second part, so we have posted the videos in that order:
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to the call by sending two fire engines, two fire bikes, three ambulances and two supporting vehicles. At the scene, paramedics pronounced Zhao and Alan dead.
The driver, who escaped with his life, only injured his left knee, according to another media source. He was taken conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment.
Police who are investigating the accident arrested the driver for causing death by a rash act. He was also suspected of drinking while driving.
One of the saddest things about this situation is that all three men in the accident were close friends. The sister of Zhao, one of the victims, shared that her brother and Alan were especially close. Zhao was Alan’s godfather; it was often joked that they were “father and son”.
Zhao’s sister, who was paying her respects at the Singapore General Hospital mortuary with her three sisters, said that all three men lived close to each other in Woodlands and were on their way home from Alan’s birthday celebrations.
She regretfully said that the last time she saw her brother was two weeks before, when she met him to give him something.
“If only I had known that would be the last time I would see him alive,” she said sadly.