SAF suspends all field training after latest NSF death
UPDATED 1104pm with NSF death, SAF bans all field training
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has suspended any kind of field training by all its army units and training schools until next Tuesday.
The army-wide ban, which is expected to affect 320,000 active and reservist soldiers, comes after a second training fatality in less than a month.
According to a statement by MINDEF, the safety time-out is "to remind commanders, trainers and instructors on the safety system to ensure safety measures are in place and reiterate that safety is an individual responsibility."
On Friday afternoon, 3rd Sergeant (3SG) Tan Mou Sheng, 20, was pronounced dead at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital after he was involved in a training accident earlier in the day at the Marsiling training area.
Tan was found pinned and unconscious under the jeep he was in after the driver, 3SG Cavin Tan, lost control of the vehicle.
Tan was then immediately driven to Nee Soon Camp Medical Centre, but was transferred to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), where he died shortly after.
One other serviceman, 3SG Hong Dickson sustained a leg injury from the accident. The driver and the third passenger in the jeep were unharmed.
The commanders overseeing the exercise have also been suspended, said MINDEF.
Tan's passing follows the death of 24-year-old SAF serviceman, Suresh Seluras, after he was found hanging from a rope in Changi Air Base on 6 May.
On 17 April, NSF Lee Rui Feng Dominique Sarron also died after suffering breathing difficulties during a platoon exercise at Murai Urban Training Facility.
