Body of 62-Year-Old Man Found in Waters of ECP in Case of Suspected Drowning

The body of a 62-year-old man was found at East Coast Park yesterday (8 Mar) in a suspected drowning case.

The police had retrieved the body from the waters near car park F3, according to TODAYonline. They were alerted to the case yesterday early morning at 7:04am.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) had received a call for water rescue assistance at 7:10am and found the body floating in the water. They retrieved it near the shoreline.

An SCDF paramedic had later pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Shin Min Daily News has also reported that the man frequented East Coast Park to fish there.

Currently, the preliminary investigations show that there was no foul play. Police investigations are still ongoing.

Similar Cases

If you recall, there have also been other similar cases in Singapore last year.

The body of a 41-year-old man who went snorkelling alone at Sisters’ Island Marine Park was found two days after he went missing on Sunday, 6 December 2020.

The police were alerted of the case at 12:40pm on Sunday. Later, a search and rescue operation by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Singapore Police Force (SPF), and SCDF was launched.

According to diving experts, the waters in Singapore may be strong and unpredictable. The risk is even greater at Sisters’ Island as it is more exposed compared to other islands nearby. They may even be more erratic during monsoon season.

These experts agreed that risks are involved in snorkelling despite being low in danger. Snorkelling may be done alone, but it is not advisable to do so.

Another case saw a young man’s body being pulled out of the Marina Reservoir on 19 October 2020, after divers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) performed an underwater search.

Initially at 8:44am, the police received a call for assistance along 11 Marina Boulevard.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was activated at 8:50am, and arrived on the scene soon after.

However, they could not find anyone in the water, which prompted them to request the assistance of the divers.

TODAYonline reported that the body belonged to student Jacob Tjon, a final year Nanyang Technology University (NTU) student.

He was also one of the finalists for this year’s Mr World Singapore, slated to take place in December.

Aside from being a student, Mr Jacob Tjon was also an entrepreneur. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of creative animation studio, SocialArchh.

The studio specialises in curating and repacking content into engaging animated explainer videos.

According to Mr Jacob Tjon’s mother, Madam Ong, the cause of her son’s death was drowning.

Feature Image: Google Maps (ferdinand pentinga)