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SINGAPORE : In less than one minute, he ran two red lights.
And at both junctions, the driver of the black car - an Audi A6 belonging to the Romanian Embassy here - sped off immediately after hitting three victims in the accidents which happened in the early hours of December 15 last year.
Details of how the second accident happened at around 3.10am that day surfaced at the coroner's inquiry into the death of Malaysian Tong Kok Wai when a survivor, Mr Muhammad Haris Abu Talib, 18, took the stand.
The court heard that Mr Muhammad Haris, his brother and two friends heard loud screeching when they were at the junction of Bukit Panjang Road and Bukit Panjang Ring Road.
But with trees blocking their view, the 18-year-old ITE student said they could not see the cause. When the traffic lights turned in their favour, they started crossing the road. It was then that Mr Muhammad Haris was hit.
The chilling footage captured by a closed-circuit television installed at the junction showed a black car hurtling towards them before crashing into Mr Muhammad Haris. Although the car sent Mr Muhammad Haris sprawling for over 10 metres, the driver manoeuvred around him and sped off on Bukit Panjang Road.
Two minutes later, cameras at the junction of Bukit Panjang Road and Woodlands Road captured a car similar to the accident vehicle turning right into Woodlands Road.
Cabbies testify
The identity of the driver of the black car has not been determined so far. But evidence from a security guard at Hillcrest Arcadia showed that former diplomat Dr Silviu Ionescu had driven a car bearing registration number S3401CD into the condominium at 2.42am that same night. The licence plate number was that of the embassy's black Audi A6.
Dr Ionescu, 49, was taking Korean opera singer Jeong Ae Ree home after a night out. According to records, he left in the same car at 2.57am, said Mr Tamilarasan Gnanasundaram, the security guard.
The testimony of two taxi drivers yesterday also revealed that Dr Ionescu was in the Sungei Kadut area after 3am that day.
Cabby Mohd Salihen Wahab testified that he saw a man, whom he later identified from newspaper photos to be Dr Ionescu, at around 3.20am along Sungei Kadut Avenue. He added that he spotted Dr Ionescu close to an embassy car with a shattered windscreen.
The former diplomat had reported the embassy's car missing at 3.47am that day. The damaged car was later found along Sungei Kadut Avenue.
At 3.33am, Dr Ionescu hopped onto Mr Neo Hock Beng's taxi at the junction of Woodlands Road and Sungei Kadut Avenue. While he was in the cab, Dr Ionescu told someone over his mobile phone that his car was missing, said Mr Neo.
The journey ended at 4.05am when they reached Grange Heights condominium. Mr Neo had printed a copy of the receipt for that trip because he "had a feeling that this passenger was having some trouble".
- TODAY/il
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