BKE accident: Van driver charged with causing deaths of 2 men
Koh Boon Ping, charged for the accident along the BKE resulting in two deaths, arriving at the State Courts on March 13, 2017. Photo: Robin Choo/TODAY
SINGAPORE — The van driver who crashed into nine motorcycles, killing two of the riders in a horrific accident on the Bukit Timah Expressway last Saturday (March 11) has been charged in court with causing death by a rash act.
Koh Boon Ping, 24, is accused of failing to keep proper control of his vehicle that afternoon, resulting in him colliding into the two men and their motorcycles that had stopped at the road shoulder under the Seletar Expressway flyover to take shelter from the rain. He was driving towards Woodlands Checkpoint.
Koh, a deliveryman, faces one count each of this offence, for the deaths of Loke Whay Nam, 50, and Lim Chun Hong, 34. The victims’ bodies were taken back to Malaysia by their family members on Sunday, the New Straits Times reported.
Six others were also injured in the accident and were sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital that day. Koh has not been charged for these incidents yet.
When approached on Monday, the hospital declined to give an update on the conditions of these casualties, citing patient confidentiality.
But several Malaysian media reports say some of the victims have been discharged.
In one video clip showing the aftermath of the accident that has been circulating online, several of the victims were seen lying on the ground. One man seemed to have been flung to the slope beyond the railing.
No plea was taken from Koh on Monday as the police needed more time to review the case. He was dressed in an olive green T-shirt and was expressionless when the charges were read to him.
If convicted of this offence, Koh could be jailed up to five years, or fined, or both on each count.
Koh’s case will be heard again on March 27. He was also released on a bail of S$15,000. His driving licence was suspended immediately after the accident.
