Man buried in Jurong Island sandpit dies
A safety officer died at Jurong Island on Wednesday after being partially buried in a four-storey sandpit.
Fahmy Roslee's body was partly covered by sand and seawater at the Alstom Power Singapore worksite when SCDF personnel found him.
According to The New Paper, the 21-year-old had gone down to the pit to conduct an investigation at 4:30pm, after finding out that seawater was leaking into the pit.
On one side of pit, situated next to the sea, was a wall with metal sheet piles to control the flow of seawater, which was used to cool machinery.
A few minutes later, Roslee's colleagues spotted him lying on the bottom of the pit, with sand filling it up at the edges.
An eyewitness told the tabloid that workers gathering around the pit, thinking of how to help Roslee out.
Two excavators were deployed but later recalled because they were not of any help to the situation.
SCDF personnel, after receiving a call at 4:43pm, arrived shortly after to survey the site and determine how to rescue Roslee.
At 7pm, personnel from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) was lowered into the pit to get Roslee out.
A total of five DART personnel were deployed to retrieve Roslee.
An SCDF spokesman said that the officers used a metal cage that was lowered by a crane to get to him. They used their hands to remove the sand from Roslee's body before placing him on the stretcher.
His body was then raised back to ground level in the metal cage.
Roslee was pronounced dead on arrival at 8pm.
It is not known if he died from a fall or from being buried in the sand, but investigations are ongoing.
The Ministry of Manpower has suspended on-site sub-structure and temporary earth retaining works.
