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Full-time NSman dies during training exercise, COI to be convened

​SINGAPORE — A 22-year-old full-time national serviceman has died following a vehicular collision during a training exercise on Saturday (Nov 3) morning.

File photo of a SAF uniform.

File photo of a SAF uniform.

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SINGAPORE — A 22-year-old full-time national serviceman has died following a vehicular collision during a training exercise on Saturday (Nov 3) morning.

An Army-wide safety timeout has been declared and an independent Committee of Inquiry will be convened to investigate the circumstances leading to the incident, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a statement.

Private Liu Kai, 22, a transport operator from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)'s Transport Hub West, was participating in a field training exercise at Jalan Murai, near Lim Chu Kang, when a Bionix armoured vehicle reversed into the land rover he was in at 10.10am.

"He lost consciousness and was attended to immediately by the on-site medic," Mindef said.

Seven minutes after the incident, the SAF Emergency Ambulance Service and the Singapore Civil Defence Force were called to the incident site and arrived by 10.30am, Mindef added.

Private Liu succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by the medical officers at 10.35am.

When asked, Mindef declined to reveal how long the safety timeout will last.

Police investigations are ongoing.

In an updated statement, Mindef said Private Liu will be accorded the posthumous rank of Corporal First Class from Sunday.

"The army is rendering assistance and support to the family of the late PTE Liu during this period of grief", Mindef said.

On Sept 15 last year, Third Sergeant (3SG) Chan Hiang Cheng Gavin was also killed in a vehicular incident during an overseas exercise in Australia.

Then, 3SG Chan was guiding a Bionix Infantry Fighting Vehicle out of difficult terrain — as part of Exercise Wallaby — when the vehicle landed on its side.

In May this year, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in a ministerial statement in parliament that Singapore must strive for "zero training deaths".

Dr Ng said the SAF saw, on average, about one NS training related death annually over the last 20 years, though there was no training related NS deaths between 2013 and 2016.

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