Girl, 4, dies in accident, driver arrested

Her daughter wanted to have her favourite dish, steamed eggs, for dinner. So instead of picking her up from nursery on Monday evening, mum Jacelyn Wong stayed home to cook and sent her helper to pick up four-year-old Eleanor Tan.

While cooking, Ms Wong began to feel uneasy, and at around 8pm, she received a call from the hospital.

She told Shin Min Daily News: "When I got the call, I thought my daughter was only injured. It was only after my husband and I reached the hospital that we found out she was dead. I thought, 'This can't be real, I must be dreaming.'

"If only I had waited for her to come home to cook it, she loves beating the eggs for me."

Her daughter died in an accident involving a car, which occurred at Bukit Batok Central towards Bukit Batok West Avenue 2.

A police spokesman said the 53-year-old male driver has been arrested for causing death by a rash act and investigations are ongoing.

A 37-year-old woman believed to be the maid was also hit in the accident.

The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were alerted to the accident at around 6.40pm, and two ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

Eleanor was unconscious while the maid is still alive, and they were rushed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Eleanor was pronounced dead at the hospital, while the maid was admitted with severe injuries.

Dr Stanley Peck, 48, a general practitioner at the nearby Lighthouse Clinic and Surgery, was attending to a patient in the consultation room when he heard people rushing into the clinic asking for help.

Speaking to TNP yesterday, Dr Peck said: "After excusing myself from my patient, I grabbed my emergency kit and oxygen mask and ran towards the scene with two of my nurses."

Arriving at the scene, Dr Peck saw both victims on the ground.

He said: "I performed (chest) compressions on the little girl as there was no pulse... We put up an intravenous line to administer medicine and attended to her for 10 to 15 minutes before the ambulance came to take over."

O.leh Bro Barber is also near the scene and barber Low Ko Chin, 63, heard the crash and ran across the road to help.

The victims were lying in a pool of blood, and Eleanor was already being attended to.

HELP

Having had first-aid training by the St John Ambulance Brigade, he tried to help the maid.

He told TNP: "Her face was covered in blood, and she was bleeding non-stop, so I tried to stop the bleeding with a bandage.

"I kept talking to her to keep her awake because I knew that if she closed her eyes, that would be the end."

A few meters away from the accident scene was an overhead bridge, but Mr Low said people often crossed the busy road at that point.

His colleague, Mr Mohammed Amin, said the area was accident-prone.

Added the 61-year-old: "Every day, I barely see people use the overhead bridge. Most of them, like 95 per cent, will jaywalk. Only 5 per cent will use the bridge."

In a Facebook post yesterday, Ms Wong wrote: "Dear friends and families, due to a traffic accident, our precious daughter Eleanor Si Xuan had left us.

"She will always be in our hearts.I sincerely thank each and everyone of you who dote(d) on our precious angel. Thank you."