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First of 5 Tanjong Pagar crash victims cremated on Wednesday: reports

Offerings seen at the crash site along Tanjong Pagar Road on 17 February, 2021. (PHOTO: Wan Ting Koh/Yahoo News Singapore)
Offerings seen at the crash site along Tanjong Pagar Road on 17 February, 2021. (PHOTO: Wan Ting Koh/Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — The first of the five men killed in the car crash at Tanjong Pagar Road on Saturday morning (13 February) was cremated on Wednesday.

The Straits Times reported that the hearse containing the casket of Wilson Teo Qi Xiang, 26, was taken to the scene of the crash, where a monk was seen conducting the last rites for Teo.

The hearse then headed for Mandai Crematorium, where a service was held before the cremation in the evening.

Teo was killed along with his four friends – Eugene Yap, 29, Elvin Tan Yong Hao, 28, Gary Wong Hong Chieh, 29, and driver Jonathan Long, 29 – when their white BMW M4 coupe crashed into a shophouse at 37 Tanjong Pagar Road.

Footage of the crash showed the car skidding along the road and slamming into the shophouse, before bursting into flames 15 seconds after impact.

It also showed Raybe Oh Siew Huey, 26, sprinting towards the inferno, trying to save her boyfriend, Long, and their friends. She suffered burns on 80 per cent of her body, and is in a critical condition at Singapore General Hospital since Saturday.

DNA testing needed to identify badly-burnt bodies

According to Chinese language newspaper Shin Min Daily News, police said that the bodies were released only on Tuesday and Wednesday as DNA testing was needed to identify the badly-burnt bodies.

Tan and Yap are to be cremated on Thursday.

The Straits Times said that the group had been at Ggang Tong, a Korean eatery in Tanjong Pagar which is run by the mother of one of their friends.

According the Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, Teo, Tan and Wong were trying to get a taxi or private-hire car, when Long proposed to drive them in his BMW to a spot where they were more likely to find a cab. Yap had joined the group in the car so that he could find a bus to go home.

A friend of the group also told The Straits Times that Long, Tan and Oh were volunteers with charity organisation Hopes In Meals, and were distributing meals to low-income seniors living in rental flats at Tiong Bahru on the first day of Chinese New Year last Friday.

The charity organisation put up a post on its Facebook page to pay tribute to the trio.

"Our deepest condolences to Mr Jonathan Long and Mr Elvin Tan’s family, our heart and prayers goes out to you in this time of grief. We hope that they are heartened to know that their kind deeds will be continued and appreciated," the post said.

"We keep Ms Raybe Oh in our prayers that she will recover soon and be healthy and stronger in this period."

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Five dead as car crashes into Tanjong Pagar shophouse early Saturday morning