News Update Rail deaths: Misadventure

By Carolyn Quek

A STATE coroner on Friday found that a young couple killed along an Upper Bukit Timah railway track last August were too intoxicated and tired to react and move themselves away from the path of an oncoming train.

Coroner Eddy Tham recorded a verdict of misadventure on the deaths of Republic Polytechnic students Mr Goh Sheng Yao, 19, and Miss Clara Lee Jing Yu, 20.

The incident happened at around 5am on the eve of National Day last year, on the track near The Rail Mall in Upper Bukit Timah.

Police and paramedics arriving at the scene found their bodies dismembered and their belongings strewn along the track. Investigations subsequently showed that the couple were to have gone clubbing with eight friends at the St James Power Station.

But Miss Lee had forgotten to bring her identity card and was denied entry. When she still couldn't find it at home, she and Mr Goh - who had accompanied her back - ended up drinking at a bar at the Rail Mall, not far from the railway track.

Noting that they were not habitual drinkers, Coroner Tham said that it was likely the alcohol consumed had affected their judgement of spatial distance and coordination. He also said that as the pair had been up the entire night, they were 'clearly not physically alert at the point in time'.

They had also recently entered into a romantic relationship and friends described them as being 'loving'. Mr Goh's father also knew about their relationship and had no objection.

Friends interviewed by the police said the couple had no reason to commit suicide and neither were there documents on their mobile phones and laptops that indicated they were troubled or wanted to kill themselves.

'For these reasons, I am of the view that the two of them had no intention to end their lives,' said Coroner Tham, who also found that there was no criminal negligence on the part of the train driver.