SINGAPORE - Early on Monday morning, friends, family and colleagues said their farewells to the late Mr Muhammad Daanish Amran, the adventure guide who died along with pupils and a teacher in the Sabah earthquake incident.
The group of about 50 took turns to file solemnly into the family's Toa Payoh flat on the fourth floor, where Mr Daanish's body lay and the grieving family received them. Only quiet condolences and muffled sniffles broke the silence.
The 22-year-old climbing instructor Muhammad Daanish Amran had been accompanying a Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) expedition to Sabah when he was killed in the 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Mount Kinabalu on Friday morning.
His body had been flown back and arrived in Singapore at around midnight.
At 8:30 am, his body was carried down to the void deck, where mourners had gathered. A short prayer was said before the body was sent on its way to Masjid Ba'alwie for the final rites. Two busloads of the bereaved accompanied the body.
The prayers are expected to be followed shortly later by the burial.
Mr Daanish's family declined to speak to the press during this time of mourning. Some mourners who were present also did not want to say anything out of respect for the family's wishes.
Mr Daanish was one of the eight victims from Singapore whose bodies returned on a Republic of Singapore Air Force plane on Sunday night.
Two Singaporeans, 13-year-old Navdeep Singh Jaryal Raj Kumar and teacher Mohammad Ghazi Mohamed, 35, are still listed as missing from the group of 37 that TKPS had sent to Kota Kinabalu.
At sports venues across the island, athletes, officials and fans at Singapore's SEA Games marked a minute's silence on Monday for those who died.
Eighteen sports are scheduled to be played, with a separate minute's silence to be observed at each venue before the start of competition.
"Even as we continue with the Games, let us together as a community of athletes, officials and people unite - to remember and honour the lives lost, and keep in prayers those who are still missing," organisers said in a statement.
