SINGAPORE: A coroner’s inquiry into the death of a seven-year-old girl hit by a school bus within a Sengkang condominium’s premises opened on Thursday (Feb 20), with the court hearing how the driver had not seen the girl before the collision occurred.
Nivya Rameshwar, a Primary 2 student, was taken unconscious to Sengkang General Hospital after the incident at The Topiary Condominium in Fernvale on Aug 15, 2024, but was pronounced dead shortly after.
On Thursday, a Traffic Police investigation officer testified on the stand, reading details from a report into the incident, which occurred at a carpark service road near block 23 of The Topiary. The service road had no pedestrian crossing.
On Aug 15, 2024, Nivya headed down from her residence to take the school bus accompanied by her domestic helper Sivakumar Ilavarasi before 6.19am.
The investigation officer, Station Inspector Jeff Tan, said the school bus driver Phua Hak Heong had just picked up a student and was on his way out of the condominium. He drove the bus along the single-lane carpark service road.
As Mr Phua approached block 23, he saw Ms Sivakumar crossing from his right, and gave way to her. According to Mr Phua, he slowed down the bus but continued on his way after she had passed. He then felt an impact on the front right portion of his bus.
He came to a stop and realised that Nivya was on the ground. According to Mr Phua, he only saw Ms Sivakumar and not Nivya. He added that the area was dark and his vehicle had not experienced any mechanical faults.
The report also contained Ms Sivakumar’s version of events. Ms Sivakumar said she would usually be the one accompanying Nivya to the carpark service road to help her board the school bus. The two would have to cross the road to board the bus.
Ahead of its arrival, the school bus would share its location live so that the students knew when to head down.
From the block’s lift lobby, Ms Sivakumar and Nivya accessed the carpark via a gate. Ms Sivakumar then asked Nivya to wait near the gate while she placed Nivya’s bags on the other side of the road. She said she would return to carry Nivya across the road as she had promised to do so earlier.
At this point, Mr Phua’s bus approached from Ms Sivakumar’s left as she crossed the road. Ms Sivakumar said that as she was crossing, she turned around and saw Nivya still standing where she had left her.
But after she looked around for a place to put down the bags, she turned and saw that Nivya was no longer at her original spot. A short while later, she saw the girl lying on the road face down, with blood on parts of her body.
She ran to Nivya and cried for help, proceeding to carry the girl over her shoulder.
Nivya’s father, who was alerted to sounds of the incident from his unit’s balcony, came down and carried Nivya to his car to see if she was conscious.
His wife, who works as a nurse, also came down but knew the outlook was “not good” when she saw her daughter, according to the report.
Shortly after, an ambulance conveyed Nivya to the hospital where she died.
Nivya had no medical history or suicidal tendencies. An autopsy report attributed her cause of death to chest and abdominal injuries consistent with those sustained in a traffic incident.
Three videos were produced as evidence, but none captured the incident clearly.
One recording from the lift lobby showed Ms Sivakumar and Nivya exiting the lift, with the former carrying two bags and a phone.
Another showed Mr Phua driving towards the camera and Ms Sivakumar later running back to cradle Nivya.
A third footage, from a residential unit along the car park service road, showed the shadow of what appeared to be Ms Sivakumar crossing the road, followed by a smaller shadow – presumed to be Nivya – remaining in the middle of the road.
As the bus drove closer, the shadow can be seen stepping backwards.
Mr Tan said that this small shadow indicated that the figure would have been on the road and visible for close to 10 seconds.
NIVYA’S PARENTS PRESENT IN COURT
Nivya’s parents, who were both present in court, were represented by lawyers Alfred Dodwell and Lolita Andrew.
Ms Andrew asked Mr Tan questions related to the incident, including the road’s speed limit and whether the bus had actually slowed down.
During the course of investigations, Nivya’s father had told Mr Tan that the carpark service road was quite dangerous as a wall blocked the view of pedestrians from the oncoming vehicles.
Mr Tan indicated that this wall was higher for block 23 compared to other blocks in the condominium, but that the condominium did not have a reason for this.
Asked if there had been other pickup points in the condominium, Mr Tan said that school buses previously picked up students from the drop-off point at the main gate. However, this was discontinued after parents provided feedback that the location was too far. School buses were then allowed to head to individual blocks to pick up children.
Ms Andrew also asked if the school bus had an in-vehicle camera showing the front view. Mr Tan said the bus did have a camera, but no recordings were obtained due to issues with the SD card.
Ms Andrew then pointed to the investigation report’s finding that the bus had slowed down, and asked how Mr Tan had determined this. Mr Tan replied that while the bus had not shown brake lights, Mr Phua could have eased off from his accelerator or just cruised down the road. He said that there was a possibility that the bus could have still been driving at a fast speed.
The investigation officer said that the road did not have a speed limit due to its location within a private area. However, there was a rough guide that cars should travel between 15kmh and 20kmh, Mr Tan said, adding that he would have to double-check this with the condominium.
State Coroner Adam Nakhoda adjourned the proceedings for more investigations to be done. These include an analysis on whether the bus driver could have seen Nivya at her height of 118cm, and to determine the height of the wall which obstructed views.
After these further findings have been produced, the State Coroner may call for a further hearing or issue findings.
