Lift accident: Family of elderly widow still seeking answers

SINGAPORE — The elderly widow who lost her hand in a lift accident in Jurong last week is in stable condition after undergoing surgery at National University Hospital (NUH) today (Oct 12), while her family continued to seek answers on the incident.  

Madam Khoo Bee Hua’s left hand was severed last Friday after becoming trapped between lift doors in her attempt to retrieve her pet dog, which had failed to follow her into the lift before the doors closed.  

Providing the update, NUH also explained why Mdm Khoo’s hand could not be reattached. Noting that Mdm Khoo, 85, had been brought to NUH on Friday suffering significant blood loss and multiple injuries, a spokesperson said: “The unstable physiological state renders her unfit for complex reattachment surgery. The badly crushed state of her hand and forearm were additional factors as to why reattachment was not possible.”

The procedure today was to fix her leg fracture — sustained when she fell in the lift on Friday — and close her forearm wound. This followed an earlier procedure on Friday to stop the bleeding, remove any unhealthy tissue and stabilise her leg fracture.  

In an interview with TODAY, Mdm Khoo’s son, who wanted to be known as Mr Lee, said he is uncertain as to what treatment Mdm Khoo would require next, but added: “You just imagine, if you yourself see your hand being (torn off), do you think you have to go through this? You can imagine she’s totally awake … seeing, witnessing this pain go through her.”

Jurong Town Council staff had come to see him on Friday afternoon and had also requested to visit his mother, but she was still “yelling from the pain” at the time, so it was not a good time to introduce “strangers” to her, said Mr Lee, 59. The staff also told him that the lift — which has been suspended from use — had undergone maintenance about a week before the incident. “If maintain everything okay, why is it happening? Did they check?” asked Mr Lee. He also said he contacted the police on Saturday requesting to view closed-circuit television footage of what happened, but has not received a response. 

When contacted, Jurong GRC Member of Parliament David Ong, who also chairs the town council, cited the ongoing investigations and said it was “best to leave it to (the investigators) to do the work”. 

Last week, Jurong Town Council was told by the Building and Construction Authority to appoint an Authorised Examiner to determine the cause of the incident submit an investigation report to the BCA.

The Commissioner of Buildings will allow the lift to be used again only after he is satisfied with the investigations and any proposed measures to be carried out. The town council said it has checked all the lifts in the same precinct and found all safety devices to be working.