SINGAPORE - The driver of a car involved in a fatal crash outside the Istana last December (2017) had consumed alcohol shortly before the accident, said the state coroner.
The court also found that logistics worker Mohamed Khairulanwar Mohamed Sani, 25, had been driving his hired vehicle at a fast speed as he was being pursued by people in three other cars following an incident at a Marina Square club.
Mr Khairulanwar, who had 129 milligrammes (mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres (ml) of blood, and receptionist Nurul Filzah Syazwani Abdul Rahim, 21, were killed after the silver Honda Civic ploughed into the Istana's rear gate in Cavenagh Road at 6.06am on Dec 16 last year.
The legal driving limit is 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. Ms Nurul's boyfriend, 28-year-old Johari Sharif, who was sitting beside her in the rear seat, was the sole survivor.
Last Friday (Aug 17), State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam found the deaths of Ms Nurul and Mr Khairulanwar to be a "tragic traffic misadventure".
She added: "The toxicological analysis of Mr Khairul's biological samples revealed an alcohol content of more than 1.6 times the legal limit which may have manifested symptoms such as reduced concentration, lack of coordination, inhibition of judgment or slow reaction time.
"The alcohol coupled with his fast speed of travel had likely caused Mr Khairul to lose control of his vehicle when he made the abrupt turn and collided into the gate and the pillar at the rear of the Istana."
The trio were at Club Baliza at Marina Square earlier that day but were told to leave after an altercation where Mr Johari was punched.
He said they decided to have their supper after leaving the nightspot and were waiting for a friend at Raffles Boulevard in the Honda Civic when three other cars surrounded their car.
Mr Khairulanwar managed to drive away but the other vehicles followed closely behind.
They pursued the Honda Civic as Mr Khairulanwar drove along Raffles Boulevard, Temasek Avenue, Rochor Road and Bukit Timah Road.
However, the state coroner said that the other vehicles were not following the car when it turned into Cavenagh Road. Mr Khairulanwar was driving the car at an average speed of between 93kmh and 97kmh shortly before the accident, said the state coroner.
Following the crash, Mr Khairulanwar and Ms Nurul were taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) where they were pronounced dead later that morning. Mr Johari suffered injuries including a broken rib and was warded for four days in TTSH.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department's Secret Societies Branch later arrested the drivers of the three other cars. The trio, whose names were not revealed in court documents, admitted that they had pursued Mr Khairulanwar's vehicle.
State Coroner Kamala said: "Two of them stated that they wanted to confront him because of an earlier incident when Mr Khairul's friends had taken photographs of one of them. The third person said he was simply following the other two persons and he was not aware of their intentions."
Correction note: An earlier version of this article used micrograms instead of milligrammes as a unit of measurement for the blood alcohol concentration. We are sorry for the error.
