SINGAPORE: A woman accidentally fell into a ditch cover gap and severely wounded herself while walking home from work. The management that is in charge of the area stated that vehicles passing by caused the gap, and they are sending people to inspect it daily. Moreover, they advised the public to use designated sidewalks instead.
The 42-year-old victim told Shin Min Daily News that she had worked at a nearby restaurant for 10 years and passed by the same route every day on her way to the bus stop. She also admitted that she was passing by the area as usual after her working hours when she fell into the gap. She was shocked to find out that several iron bars covering the ditch were missing.
Due to the severity of her injury, she sat on the ground for 10 to 15 minutes before managing to get up slowly.
“Fortunately, there was a colleague with me at the time. She grabbed me when I fell; otherwise, I might have fallen forward and injured my hands and face,” she shared.
Furthermore, she said that she was with her 8-year-old son when the accident happened.
“If my son had fallen in, the consequences would have been unimaginable,” she remarked.
In addition to several iron bars missing, the metal covering the ditch was rusty. With this, the woman went to the hospital for treatment. She then reported the problem to the management who are in charge, but stated that they did nothing but apologise and said that it was a driveway.
“I am not asking for compensation, but they cannot just give a perfunctory apology and leave it at that,” the woman said.
When reporters visited the area, they discovered that the new ditch covers had already been installed. A spokesperson from the management also admitted that all pedestrians are strongly encouraged to use the pedestrian walkways and that the safety and well-being of their visitors and tenants is always their top priority.
