Van driver in deadly BKE crash charged
A deliveryman was charged in court yesterday with two counts of causing death by a rash act in last Saturday's Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) accident, which also resulted in injuries to six Malaysian motorcyclists.
Koh Boon Ping was driving a van at about 3.50pm that day when it ploughed into motorcyclists who were taking shelter from the rain under a BKE flyover. His driving licence was suspended immediately.
Sporting dyed hair, the 24-year-old was clad in a green T-shirt and a pair of dark blue bermudas when he appeared before District Judge Olivia Low.
He is alleged to have caused the deaths of Malaysians Loke Whay Mam, 50, and Lim Chun Hong, 34, by a rash act not amounting to culpable homicide.
He allegedly failed to keep a proper lookout while driving the van, hitting both Mr Loke and Mr Lim, who were at the road shoulder with their motorbikes.
The two men were pronounced dead at the scene, while six men were injured.
The prosecution said it was not ready and asked that no plea be taken from Koh, who was offered $15,000 bail.
His passport will be impounded, and he will be back in court on March 27.
If convicted of causing death by a rash act, he could be jailed for up to five years and/or fined on each charge.
A 1½-minute clip, which was widely circulated, showed six men lying on the road.
One had been flung over the railing along the road and was on the grass patch. Two others were lying on the road, motionless and bleeding.
The injured motorcyclists were taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. One of them, Mr Chin Boh Fatt, 54, returned on Sunday to Johor Baru, where he lives, but said he will need to return for check-ups.
Construction worker Lau Kam Long, 53, was in surgery for around eight hours, said Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News, which added that he was a colleague of the two dead men.
Plumber Lau Kam Pong, also 53, is still waiting to undergo an operation, said his elder brother, who declined to be identified.
The others who were injured were Mr Mohd Zahir, 41; Mr Suriakumaran, 36; and Mr Muhammad Rafie, 31.
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