Man found dead on tracks of Fajar LRT Station
Residents said they heard shouting from nearby coffee shop the night before
After the last train pulled out of the Fajar Light Rail Transit (LRT) station early yesterday morning, a body was spotted on the tracks.
Police said the man had been run over and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The New Paper understands that the deceased is Mr Ang Boon Tiong, a Malaysian in his 40s.
When contacted, SMRT spokesman Margaret Teo said they alerted the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force immediately. "We are extending our full cooperation to the police in carrying out their investigations," she said.
Residents of Block 454, Fajar Road, told TNP yesterday that they had heard shouting from the coffee shop near the block at around 10pm the night before, but they did not know if it was linked to the case.
Ms Corrine Lye, 52, who lives on the 15th storey, said: "There were very loud noises, screaming - men's voices."
This is not the first fatality on the LRT line. In 2000, a hawker assistant died after he was hit by a train near Jelapang Station.
He was found to have walked along the tracks after having too much to drink.
In 2010, an LRT technician died of injuries sustained after being hit by a train at Phoenix Station. He was checking the power rail between Phoenix and Bukit Panjang stations.
SYSTEM
While tracks and trains have a system that detects objects on the tracks, the investigation and decision for the train to stop or to continue moving comes from the Operations Control Centre (OCC), said Dr Lee Der Horng, a transport researcher at the National University of Singapore.
He told TNP: "This system eliminates false alarms.
"If the train stops every time something on the track is detected, there will be too many interruptions."
With regard to yesterday's incident, it could have been too late for the OCC to intervene, said Dr Lee.
Adding that personal responsibility on the commuters' part is important as well, he said: "When we design the infrastructure or anything related to the safety, there's no 100 per cent. People who are under the influence of alcohol are really beyond what we can control...
"The potential danger (on a platform) is there. So for commuters, there is always a need to exercise extra vigilance."
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ELAINE LEE & FENG YUAN WEN
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