Security system firm apologises for releasing unedited video of Tanjong Pagar crash
SINGAPORE — A security system company on Wednesday (17 February) apologised for uploading unedited footage of the fatal Tanjong Pagar car crash on its Facebook page, warning others who have shared the videos to remove them.
In a post on the social media platform signed off by the management of E3N Security, the firm wrote that it had shared two video clips of the accident and had uploaded a full clip instead of a shorter, edited version as a result of an "administrative error".
The company had posted the clips on Facebook on Tuesday evening and took them down shortly after.
Five men were killed in the crash on Saturday morning, the second day of Chinese New Year. Of them, four were financial advisers at Aviva Financial Advisers: Jonathan Long and Eugene Yap, both 29, Elvin Tan Yong Hao, 28, and Wilson Teo Qi Xiang, 26. Gary Wong Hong Chieh, 29, was a former representative at the firm.
Long, who drove the BMW M4 coupe, was spotted speeding before the car crashed into a vacant shophouse at 37 Tanjong Pagar Road and burst into flames at about 5.40am.
Raybe Oh Siew Huey, 26, Long's girlfriend, is currently in critical condition after suffering 80 per cent burns to her body in her attempt to rescue the men.
In the over three-minute video uploaded by E3N Security, Oh could be seen rushing to the burning car shortly after it skidded and crashed into the shophouse. Seconds later, Oh emerged from the blaze, completely engulfed in flames, and could be seen running to the opposite side of the road, where a witness at the scene poured water on her.
"This mistake has caused unnecessary suffering for the victims’ families and we would like to apologise for our mistake and acknowledged that it is insensitive to show the full clip of Ms Oh in distress and we would like to inform all others to refrain from sharing the full clip," said E3N Security.
It added that the police have requested and obtained a high-resolution copy of the footage for investigation purposes.
Separately, a low-resolution version was requested by and sent to The Straits Times, which E3N Security had described as "the only authorised exclusive media to redistribute the video" apart from authorities. The firm added that no payment or benefit was obtained from the release of the footage to the newspaper.
E3N Security added that it is the "rightful owner and only company fully authorised to manage and release" the closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings on behalf of the owner of the premises where the footage was obtained from.
The company pointed out clips that have been watermarked with the firm's name and circulated online and via messaging apps "were not by us and we do not know who watermarked it".
"The screenshots of our FB page with the video clips shown that our clips does not have any watermarking," it said.
E3N Security also called on websites, social media pages or users who are currently sharing the videos "without our consent and knowledge" to delete the clips that were downloaded from its Facebook page.
"We reserve the rights to take legal measures against anyone who has distributed the video without authorisation. We hope that everyone can give some space to the victims’ families in times of sorrow to tide over this tragic event," said the company.
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