Ang Mo Kio MRT Station - Incidents

Incidents

Nitcharee Peneakchansak, a 14 year old Thai teenager, was seriously injured and lost both her legs after she fell onto the track and was hit by a train at Ang Mo Kio MRT Station on April 3 2011. Peneakchansak left Singapore on June 13 2011 after recuperating in hospital. SMRT had reportedly offered the family S$5000 as compensation. The victim's father, rejected the compensation as her prosthetic legs will cost around S$100,000 and must be changed every three to five years.

After the news broke out, anonymous Singaporean donors donated S$250,000 for her medical rehabilitation expenses. At the same time, a Singaporean living in Hong Kong wanted to settle Peneakchansak's hospital bills in full, which amounted to about S$50,000. Her father decided to sue SMRT for S$3.4 million on June 17 2011, the amount equivalent to the price for the 20 pairs of prosthetic legs that Peneakchansak will need in her lifetime.

On June 20 2011, SMRT clarified that the money offered to Peneakchansak was a gesture of goodwill and not compensation. The transport company said compensation would only be made after investigations had concluded. SMRT also said that the S$10,000 offered to her family to travel to Singapore when she was still in hospital was also a gesture of goodwill. In its defence papers on 1 Sep 2011, the SMRT reiterates that all the safety warnings and precautions - such as the yellow lines - were in place and that the distance which the train travelled after the driver slammed on the brakes were within "safety specifications" and argues that Peneakchansak's "negligence" contributed to her falling "onto the tracks at the MRT station on her own accord". It also claimed that the girl was "aware of the danger of the oncoming trains and that by standing behind the yellow safety line until the train had stopped", she would have been reasonably safe from falling onto the tracks and pointed out that the girl had failed to keep a proper lookout for the oncoming train and take reasonable care of her own well-being despite knowing the risks of falling. It adds that she had failed to stand behind the yellow safety line until the train had stopped despite clear warning signs displayed at the MRT station.

Because of this accident, Mr Ang Hin Kee, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC announced that Ang Mo Kio MRT Station will be installed with the half-height platform screen doors on the platform by June, earlier than scheduled. Although it was announced to be completed by June, it was delayed till 2 December 2011 before operations began.