Man found dead after fishing trip

A fishing trip gone wrong resulted in the death of a father of two yesterday.

The man in his 50s had just returned to the pier at Marina Country Club from a fishing trip with his friend at about 6pm.

Amid the heavy rain and strong currents, he was trying to tie his boat to the pier when he fell into the water.

A waitress at Horkomo Pier Bar, situated next to Pier 5 where the incident happened, said: "He fell in and disappeared. We couldn't see clearly because of the heavy rain."

A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said that two Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team divers retrieved the body within 20 minutes. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A friend of the man who arrived at the club told The New Paper: "I have just lost a friend, I am very sad now. When I think about his family and what they're going to do now, I'm so xin-tong (Mandarin for heartache)."

He declined to give his name.

At around 10pm, the victim's son arrived. He was calm in his grief, but declined to speak.

The wife, daughter and other relatives arrived shortly after. Wails of "daddy" were heard from the daughter.

- Goh Yan Han