5 killed in Tanjong Pagar car crash: What happened

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Ng Wei Kai and David Sun
The Straits Times
February 14, 2021

Five people, killed in a pre-dawn crash along Tanjong Pagar Road, were identified by their next-of-kin at about 10.30am on Saturday (Feb 13), about five hours after the accident.

This is a timeline of the events which took place early on Saturday:

5.30am: The roar of car engines is heard by people living in the area and an online video shows the white BMW M4 coupe speeding along Tanjong Pagar Road. Minutes later, eyewitnesses say the car burst into flames soon after it slammed into a vacant shophouse previously occupied by Five Oars Coffee Roasters.

 

PHOTO: STOMPER TAN KOK CHON

5.40am: Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is alerted to a fire at 37 Tanjong Pagar Road. A man was later seen crying hysterically at the scene and begging for his friends to be rescued from the car.

PHOTO: SONG SENG WUN

7.30am: Land Transport Authority announces road closures on Tanjong Pagar Road (towards Murray Street) after Maxwell Road.

8.00am: About 200m of Tanjong Pagar Road is cordoned off by the police. SCDF had sent four fire trucks to the scene.

PHOTO: STOMPER LEE KIAN MENG

10.30am: Next-of-kin of the occupants of the car are spotted at the crash site, identifying the bodies of the five killed. Two police hearses are at the scene.

10.50am: Police cordon is expanded to block off the whole of Cook Street and more of the Duxton Hill area.

11.11am: First hearse arrives at the mortuary in Singapore General Hospital (SGH). A woman with burn injuries has been sent to the same hospital. Witnesses had seen her desperately trying to pull a male passenger, believed to be her boyfriend, out of the wreck.

11.26am: Second hearse arrives at SGH.

11.30am: Family members are seen leaving the scene.

2.20pm: The crushed and burnt wreckage is towed out of the shopfront. 

ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

3.10pm: Police cordon on the area is lifted. 

The Straits Times

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