9 Facts About The Traffic Accident At Clementi That Killed One NUS Student

If you haven’t heard, a horrific traffic accident between a taxi and a car happened at Clementi.

A female passenger was nearly flung out of the window and pronounced dead at the hospital.

Here are 9 facts about the road accident that shocked Singaporeans.

1. Exactly What Happened

On Thursday, 19 Apr 2018, a silver car and a Silver Cab collided with each other at the junction of Clementi Road and Commonwealth Avenue West at around 7.30 pm.

The car was travelling straight along Commonwealth Avenue West while the taxi was making a right turn into Clementi Road.

A video of the accident, uploaded on Roads.sg showed that the silver car crashed into the taxi at high speed. All videos pertaining to this incident has been removed.

2. Female student died of injuries, 22-year-old male had to be pulled out with hydraulic equipment

NUS has confirmed that all four of the passengers are students of the school.

A 19-year-old female student who was reportedly sitting at the back seat of the taxi was nearly flung out of the taxi.

She succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

A 22-year-old male was trapped in the car and had to be rescued with hydraulic tools by the SCDF after they got onto the scene.

The four passengers were sent to the hospital together with the drivers of the two vehicles.

3. Two students are in stable condition while one is still suffering from serious injuries.

In a response to media queries, NUS said that the school is deeply saddened by the accident.

They are rendering support and assistance to the family and friends of the four students during this difficult time.

NUS added that out of the three students who survived the accident, one is still suffering from serious injuries while the other two are in stable condition.

Premiere Taxi stated that they are aware of this “unfortunate incident” but were unable to comment further as the case is still under police investigation.

4. They were on the way to buy dinner for an Ora House gathering

The quartet were part of Ora House under NUS’s Tembusu College.

The four committee members were headed towards Clementi to buy take-away dinner for a gathering when the accident happened.

They were going to hold a farewell party for seniors of the house, which totalled about 130 students.

5. Female casualty is the only child of the close-knitted family

Ms Kathy Ong, aged 19, died from her injuries in the accident on 19 Apr.

She was the only daughter of her family and was in her first year of studies at NUS.

Friends and family members remember her as a fun-loving and caring teen who enjoy nature and cared a lot about environmental-related issues.

A friend of hers said that she is looking forward to pursuing something wildlife-related after her graduation from NUS.

She was also fondly remembered as a generous individual who loved doing the occasional prank, like feeding her friends cookies made of cricket flour.

6. She was the closest to her mother

Her mother, Mrs Ong, said that her daughter would come home every weekend (as she lived in a hostel) and tell them stories about her time at school.

“She was the only person who could make me laugh.”

The mother and daughter shared a closet together and she remembered Kathy as someone who was careful about spending money.

Before she spend on any new clothes or shoes, she’ll check her mother’s collection to see if there’s any she can wear.

When her mother was told to bring her daughter’s favourite shoes to her funeral at Church of St Teresa on Kampong Bahru Road, she realised that she couldn’t find any because her daughter had been wearing her shoes to events.

7. “Mommy, you cannot leave me.”

Mrs Ong donated her organ to her brother in the past and has been suffering from poor health since then.

She told Channel NewsAsia that her daughter was very concerned for her health, and she’ll frequently tell her mother that “she cannot leave her.”

8. Female student was a “people person” and keen to volunteer her services in student groups

She participated in everything from performance arts, science and organising events to develop bonds among her peers at Ora House.

Everyone remembered her as someone who was interested in so many things, very popular and had a lot of friends.

She joined about five to six different student committees.

9. Pursuing Bachelor of Environmental Studies and interested in biodiversity

Vice Dean for the Faculty of Science Chew Fook Tim described Kathy as someone who is interested in biodiversity.

He said that she wrote a lot of blog posts on the subject, more than what is required for her course. He remembers her as someone who has a cause to champion for and a passion for biodiversity.

Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh also remembered her because she attended his forum twice.

Despite having 600 students in his forum, he remembered her as someone whom he has interacted with.

“She always appeared and was a very charismatic person.”

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