Causeway tragedy

Doctors perform emergency delivery after woman dies in road accident

Doctors extract baby from womb of pregnant woman killed in road accident in Singapore.

SINGAPORE: Doctors here managed to extract a premature baby from a Malaysian victim of a fatal road accident that happened in Jurong West.

The woman, who has been identified as Goh Chieh Ting (pic), 25, was six months’ pregnant when she was hit by a lorry while crossing the road, Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

Goh did not respond to treatment in hospital and was later pronounced dead.

However, doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section and managed to save her daughter, who is in stable condition.

“The baby is healthy and large for her age,” said the newborn’s grandaunt Yau Siew Mek, 64.

While Yau had yet to see the baby personally, she said other family members had visited her and told her to be strong.

The accident happened on Saturday at

8am on Jurong West Avenue 1 towards Corporation Road, near

Block 456.

Eyewitnesses told the Chinese evening daily that Goh was holding a woman’s hand as she crossed the road.

It is understood that the other woman is her mother-inlaw.

As they crossed the road, a lorry suddenly came out from the carpark and turned right. Although the driver slammed on the brakes, he was unable to stop the vehicle in time and hit Goh.

An unconscious Goh was then rushed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where she died at 9.30am due to severe head injuries.

“She has been crying non-stop since the incident,” Yau said of the mother- in- law, who lived with Goh and doted on her.

“The baby is still in hospital and under observation, but we are not sure when she will be out or who will care for her.”

Yesterday evening, close to 100 of Goh’s friends and relatives turned up at her wake in Jurong West to pay their respects.

Her immediate family, including her mother and husband, declined to comment about the incident, saying only that the baby girl was in “stable condition”.

One of Goh’s cousins, who declined to be named, said: “We are thankful to the doctors at Ng Teng Fong Hospital for making the quick decision to save the baby.”

An aunt, who last saw Goh in Johor Baru during Chinese New Year, said “she had been a very filial and obedient child”.

“She was always very friendly, approachable and bubbly,” said James Liaw, 36, who is Goh’s uncle.

“Things are not going to be the same without her around.”

Goh, who hailed from Johor, held a long-term visiting permit and had lived near the site of the accident with her parents-in-law, according to Shin Min.

When contacted, police said the 46-year-old male driver of the lorry had been arrested for causing death by negligence. — The Straits Times/ Asia News Network