SINGAPORE – The two Singaporean men killed after being hit by an MRT train on Tuesday (March 22) were among a group of 15 men from SMRT’s maintenance crew that was on the walkway, said SMRT chief Desmond Quek.
Mr Quek said that the men were walking in a single file along the walkway beside the tracks, and they were being led by their supervisor who was walking in front of them. The two men were the second and third man in the line.
No one else was hurt in the incident.
He also revealed that the two men – identified by The Straits Times as Mr Nasrulhudin Najumudin, 26, and Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari, 24 – were trainees undergoing on-the-job training.
Mr Quek said that the train that hit the two men were on “auto mode” and that it was travelling at about 60kmh.
Asked why workers were doing maintenance work while trains still were running, Mr Quek said that it was standard operating procedure for its crew to investigate every track fault, regardless of time.
Investigations will focus on how exactly the men got onto the track and were hit, he said.
Train services between Pasir Ris and Tanah Merah stations on the East-West Line were disrupted for over two hours from about 11.20am. Services only resumed close to 2pm.
SMRT said in a Facebook post that the two men were part of the maintenance teams sent to investigate a “reported alarm linked to signalling equipment”. Permission was given to the teams to access the track.
sinsh@sph.com.sg
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