Minister late for press conference!

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LAW Minister K. Shanmugam was heading back to his office in a car after a morning meeting, when he came across an accident at Robinson Road near the AIA Tower. A woman, who was crossing the four-lane road, had been hit by a motorcycle and was lying on the ground. "I didn't see (the woman) being hit but there was someone gesticulating. The accident had happened a few seconds earlier," Mr Shanmugam said.

After his car was parked to prevent traffic from running over the victim, Mr Shanmugam, who is also Foreign Affairs Minister, and his security officer got out with a first-aid kit to help the woman. By then, at least five other people were also trying to help and had called emergency services.

Mr Shanmugam said the woman was.writhing in pain and they found it difficult to bandage her head, which was bleeding profusely. After making sure she did not have a neck injury, they moved the woman, believed to be in her 20s, onto a wheelchair, which someone provided. The New Paper understands that she did not have any identification on her. She was taken to AIA Towers, where several people waited with her till the ambulance arrived. Eyewitnesses said Mr Shanmugam was among those who carried the woman from the road.

A woman who works in a nearby building said the minister's light-coloured shirt was stained with blood. "I did not see the accident but we all heard it. There was a bit of a commotion," said the woman, who can't be named because she is not authorised to speak to the media. When asked about the shirt, Mr Shanmugam laughed and said: "I've changed it." He declined TNP's request to take a picture of the bloodied shirt and stressed that he wasn't the only per-son helping the woman. TNP understands that CCTV footage from a nearby building shows the woman crossing the road from the side of ASO building, where there is a bus stop. The cars were bumper to bumper and when she reached the fourth lane, which was clear of traffic, she suddenly made a dash for the kerb. That was when a passing motorcyclist brushed past her, causing her to fall and hurt her head.

When TNP arrived at the scene, a pool of blood was visible on the road and the area was cordoned off by traffic cones. The motorcyclist, Mr Nasir Matunus, 58, who works for a transport company, was waiting for the police to arrive. He was visibly shaken and his hands were trembling as he told TNP he was travelling at normal speed when the accident happened. He said: "I've been riding a bike for more than 40 years, this is the first time I've got into an accident like that," he said.

A police spokesman said they received a call at around 10.10am about an accident involving a motorcycle and a female pedestrian on Robinson Road towards Collyer Quay. He said the woman was taken conscious to hospital and they are investigating the matter.


REPORT: ELIZABETH LAW [email protected]
THE NEW PAPER • Thursday. July 25 2013 3


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