Resident on Fajar Road tragedy: 'It’s terrible that a baby had to die in such a manner'
When a police officer lifted the piece of canvas, tiny feet appeared.
A mother-of-three watching from her four-room flat in Bukit Panjang, trembled as she realised the body under the canvas was that of a baby.
Speaking to The New Paper at her flat in Block 443B, Fajar Road, yesterday, the housewife, who wanted to be known only as Madam Siti, said: "I looked out of a window and saw a blue tent covering a dead body.
"Beside it was a piece of canvas covering a much smaller body.
"As a mother, I feel sad that a baby is dead."
The police told TNP that they were alerted about the case involving unnatural deaths around 6.40am yesterday.
A 29-year-old woman and her three-month-old daughter were found lying motionless at the foot of the block of flats.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force dispatched an ambulance and paramedics declared the woman and the baby dead at the scene.
TNP understands that it was Madam Koh Suan Ping and her daughter, Ng Le Xuan.
Madam Koh was said to have been wearing a red top while her daughter was clad in pink.
Police officers were still swarming around the area when Madam Siti left her flat around 10am to run some errands. They were gone by the time she returned about an hour later.
She said: "Some neighbours told me that the woman fell from the 12th storey of our block and they had heard people quarrelling shortly before she fell. I didn't hear any commotion. I also didn't hear anything when they fell."
Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said she was in her flat shortly before 7am when she heard a loud thud.
She peered out of a window and did not notice anything out of the ordinary at first.
She found out about the deaths only when her husband told her over the phone later.
The neighbour said: "It's terrible that a baby had to die in such a manner."
TNP visited the 19-storey block around noon yesterday but the crowds had cleared by then.
Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday that it had spoken to Madam Koh's 26-year-old brother and he said his late sister worked in marketing.
The Chinese evening daily also reported that Madam Koh, who got married on Oct 24 last year, used to post photos of her family of three on Facebook and they looked happy.
The family had moved into their Fajar Road flat before holding a housewarming party in February.
Madam Koh's brother, who works as a recruiter, told Lianhe Wanbao that his mother was still being kept in the dark about the tragedy.
He said: "I'm worried she cannot accept the bad news, so I haven't told her the truth."
Police investigations are ongoing.
Helplines
- Samaritans of Singapore (24-hour hotline): 1800-221-4444
- Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
- Care Corner Counselling Centre (in Mandarin): 1800-353-5800
- Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222
- Aware Helpline: 1800-774-5935
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