Singapore
Jung Haelin had left her room to throw some rubbish, and realised later that she had left the card that would unlock the door in the room.
The Sheares Hall at National University of Singapore. (File photo: NUS website)
SINGAPORE: The fatal fall of an 18-year-old foreign student at National University of Singapore (NUS) was a tragic misadventure, State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam ruled on Wednesday (May 2).
The findings were delivered following an inquiry into the death of South Korean undergraduate Jung Haelin, who fell last year from the seventh floor of Sheares Hall, one of the university’s residential hostels.
The incident happened on Oct 28, 2017. Ms Jung, a first-year student at NUS, fell while trying to climb into her dormitory room after locking herself out unintentionally. She had left her matriculation card, which doubled up as a key, in her room.
In delivering her findings, District Judge Kamala noted that NUS has since conducted a review and made changes to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Previously, doors were automatically locked once they close. Now, they will only be locked if occupants do so.
The court earlier heard that Ms Jung had left her room at about 11.15am to throw away rubbish, and tried to re-enter her room by climbing through the window of a pantry that was located next to her room.
Camera footage from the corridor of Sheares Hall showed that Ms Jung tried knocking on nearby doors, but did not receive any response.
She was then seen walking in and out of the pantry twice before the fall. At about 11.30am, a student called the Singapore Civil Defence Force after seeing Ms Jung lying on the ground, breathing heavily.
Ms Jung went into cardiac arrest while she was in the ambulance heading to National University Hospital and later died.
An autopsy report said Ms Jung suffered multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height. District Judge Kamala found that no foul play was involved.
