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SINGAPORE: The 17 surviving members of the Singapore Dragon Boat team returned home on Monday afternoon.
But they, together with some relatives on the same flight, gave the waiting media the slip.
However, some officials gave an update of the situation.
The athletes and their relatives were on flight MI601 from Phnom Penh, which arrived at 1.30pm.
After half an hour of waiting, the media were told by officials that the athletes were too devastated by the incident and needed some breathing space.
The priority now is to get the wakes and funeral arrangements in place.
Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior VP of Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SDBA), and MP of Ang Mo Kio GRC, said: "The counsellors from MCYS (Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) as well as the Institute of Mental Health are ensuring that the bereaved families and the survivors are being well taken care of psychologically."
Dr Lam added that a post-mortem will be conducted after all the urgent matters are taken care of.
He said: "The committee will interview the surviving members to find out exactly what happened and to see whether there is any lapse in safety procedures, whether there are any areas we can improve upon so that such incidents do not happen again in the future.
"In SDBA's 20 years of history, we never had a single casualty or fatality like that and it is really unfortunate that this has happened."
Other government agencies will also assist in the investigations.
MCYS' Parliamentary Secretary Teo Ser Luck said: "MCYS is working closely with the other ministries such as Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MINDEF, and also trying to work at a coordinating level between the Singapore Sports Council and SDBA.
"We have to understand the situation better first. Some investigation needs to be done before we activate any councils or task force."
A memorial service for the deceased could be held after consultations with family members.
- CNA/so
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