SINGAPORE - An online fundraising campaign has collected more than $30,000 in just over two days for the families of the two SMRT trainees killed on the tracks near Pasir Ris MRT station on Tuesday (March 22).
Mr Nasrulhudin Najumudin, 26, and Mr Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari, 24 were among 15 technical staff investigating a possible fault with a point machine used for trains to change tracks.
They were struck by an oncoming train while walking towards the machine.
The campaign on fundraising website Give.asia, was started by entrepreneur Shariff Raffi and Give.asia co-founder Aseem Thakur.
In a note on the campaign page, Mr Shariff, 32, said he did not know the two trainees personally but felt saddened that they had died while putting "their lives on the line for us".
"While taking the train the same evening (Tuesday), I couldn't help but feel deeply moved by what had happened and kept thinking about their families and friends," he said.
The fundraising effort started on Thursday (March 24).
Mr Aseem, 29, told The Straits Times both he and Mr Shariff were "touched by the overwhelming support and donations to the fundraising page".
"As shared on the page, at the end of the fundraiser, we will be sending the funds to SMRT so that the funds can be properly channeled to the families of Mr Asyraf and Mr Nasrulhudin Najumudin."
The two fundraisers have been liaising with SMRT and the campaign will close in a fortnight .
Mr Asyraf's uncle Bakhtiar Ahmad, 63, said the family is aware of the donation drive and intends to respond to well-wishers soon.
"The family is currently focused on the spiritual aspect of our loss," he said.
Separately, SMRT has also started an internal donation drive for staff to contribute to the families of the two men killed.
The company took responsibility for the incident and issued an apology on Wednesday.
It said that a key safety procedure was not followed, adding that the company has established a team to evaluate all workplace safety procedures and instituted mandatory work-team level safety reviews.
