SINGAPORE — A 70-year-old newspaper deliveryman on a motorcycle was knocked down by a drunk lorry driver, then run over by a bus, after two bystanders placed a black plastic bag on him, shouted that he was "gone" and left the scene.

On Thursday (Aug 22), State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam ruled that the death of Ho Swee Hai was a “tragic traffic misadventure”. The incident had happened along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 sometime after 6am on Feb 21 this year. 

Ho spent more than 50 years delivering newspapers around the Shunfu area and had left home at about 3am to start his deliveries that fateful morning. He died of multiple injuries caused by both the lorry and the bus, she said.

A passerby, Mr Teo Nguan Kwee, heard the first collision at about 5.50am as he was taking an early morning stroll in Bishan Park. He saw a small lorry travelling fast and newspapers flying around before discovering Ho lying motionless on the road. The lorry did not stop.

Mr Teo called the police immediately.

Two other bystanders appeared to have placed a black plastic bag on Ho, he said. When Mr Teo called out to them to ask about the man’s condition, they gestured with their hands and shouted that he was “gone” in Malay before leaving.

Three to four minutes later — before the police and ambulance could arrive — an SBS Transit double-decker bus carrying about 30 passengers approached.

Bus captain Wee Yong Han — who was driving in the left-most lane of the three-lane road — slowed down and switched lanes abruptly upon seeing the black bag, but did not manage to avoid running over the body.

Ho was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.15am by paramedics.

Investigations later established that Mr Muhammad Amin Mohamed Noor was the lorry driver who knocked Ho down.

Mr Amin, a delivery driver, testified that he was driving home after having some alcoholic drinks in the Yishun area. He did not stop immediately after colliding into Mr Ho’s motorcycle, though he stopped briefly well away from the accident scene.

He said he could not recall colliding into a vehicle as he was intoxicated. He was aware only of swerving left and right after he knocked into something.

Surveillance camera and in-vehicle footage showed that he collided into the rear of Ho’s motorcycle while driving at a high speed, and dragged the motorcycle along the road to the point that sparks could be seen. The motorcycle was badly damaged.

The court heard that Ho’s motorcycle was not the only vehicle Mr Amin hit that morning. After hitting Ho’s motorcycle, he also side-swiped an off-service SMRT bus at about 6.10am as he drove along Upper Thomson Road in a zig-zag fashion. The driver of the bus said that he sounded his horn at the lorry, but it did not stop.

Mr Amin went home to sleep, then did a fresh round of deliveries at 11am. He noticed the damage to his lorry but ignored it until he was done with deliveries that day. He told his employer that he had hit a lamp post.

TODAY has sent the Attorney-General’s Chambers queries on whether any parties have been, or will be, charged in relation to Ho’s death.

State Coroner Kamala said that Mr Wee, the SBS bus driver, had noted that it was a little dark at the site of the collision and that Ho was not clearly discernible as he lay on the road with newspapers strewn around him.

“Based on the evidence uncovered, I find that Mr Ho had sustained multiple injuries caused by the two motor vehicles (the lorry and the SBS bus), which ultimately led to his death. Mr Ho’s death is a tragic traffic misadventure,” she said.

“I wish to extend my condolences to the family of Mr Ho Swee Hai for their sad loss.”