Coroner says NUS student died trying to get back into her seventh-storey room through window

Shaffiq Idris Alkhatib
The Straits Times
May 3, 2018

Residential hall room doors at the National University of Singapore (NUS) will no longer be automatically locked when they are closed.

This follows the death of South Korean national Jung Haelin, 18, who fell from a seventh-storey laundry ledge at Sheares Hall, one of six residential halls in NUS.

Haelin, who was a first-year business student, had been trying to return to her room through a window after mistakenly locking herself out of it earlier.

On Wednesday (May 2), State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam said: "This court notes that following this unfortunate incident, NUS set up a committee to review and look into the matter on preventing such unfortunate incidents from recurring."

The university has also made hall residents aware of what they can do if they find themselves locked out, especially on weekends or after office hours.

"They can call a resident fellow or the hall manager, or, if they are not in possession of a phone, they may proceed to the resident fellow's flat which is situated on the first floor of every block.

"The students do not need an access pass for the first floor. At any one time, at least one of the five resident fellows, or the hall master, will be on duty and the resident may approach any of them for assistance," said the state coroner.

Prior to the tragedy, room doors at Sheares Hall were automatically locked when they were closed.

The state coroner said that since February this year, residents have to lock the doors themselves when leaving their rooms.

Read the full story at The Straits Times.