Girl, 2, falls out of stroller and is killed by reversing van driven by dad who is arrested, 2 others hurt

Gabrielle Chan and Samuel Devaraj
The Straits Times
March 14, 2023

A two-year-old girl has died after an accident involving a van and three pedestrians in a carpark in Woodlands on Monday.

A 33-year-old man, who was behind the wheel, has been arrested for careless driving causing death.

The Straits Times understands that the driver is the father of the toddler.

In response to queries, the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the accident at Block 326 Woodlands Street 32 at 2.40pm.

A two-year-old was taken unconscious to hospital, where she subsequently died, said the police.

The other two pedestrians, a four-year-old boy and a 34-year-old woman, were conscious when taken to hospital.

Investigations are ongoing. 

According to Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao, the four people involved in the accident were a family and had eaten a meal at a coffee shop at the block shortly before the accident occurred.

Residents told Lianhe Zaobao that the two-year-old fell out of her stroller as it slid down the driveway and was hit by the van as it was reversing.

A video posted to Facebook page SG Road Vigilante showed the police and SCDF at the scene.

Mr Mervyn Lee, who lives in Block 328 Woodlands Street 32, told The Straits Times he was working at home when he heard people screaming.

“I thought it was a bunch of kids playing until my mother told me that there was an accident,” said the 25-year-old insurance agent.

At about 3pm, he looked out of his window on the 13th floor and saw an ambulance at the carpark.

Several people had gathered by then, including Mr Alrabbi Nayon, 30, a cleaner.

He said a man in his 30s was sitting on the road and sobbing.

A 53-year-old man who lives in the area and who declined to be named, said the driver of the van tried to get into an ambulance but was later arrested in the carpark.

The resident said: “I heard the driver saying in Malay, ‘The baby fell from the stroller’.”