Truck driver's death last July a mystery to daughter
Published on Jan 13, 2015 11:12 AM
Ms Suriatini Nor Ahmad, seen here leaving the court on Jan 12, 2015, asked if her father's death may have been suicide rather than an industrial accident. -- ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
By Joyce Lim
The mysterious death of a 60-year-old tipper truck driver in July last year left some unanswered questions that his daughter raised in the coroner's court yesterday.
Mr Nor Ahmad Majid's body was found in a standing position, pinned to the side of the truck by a ladder attached to the dump basket.
Investigation officer Victor Lau told the court that some nuts and bolts, and a tub of grease were found at the scene, which suggested Mr Nor Ahmad may have been doing some maintenance work on his day off.
The dump basket may also have been activated, causing him to be pinned under the ladder.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force was called to Jurong Island, where Mr Nor Ahmad worked as a driver delivering sand.
A post-mortem found he had died from "a blunt force injury to the chest", said Mr Lau. He said the tipper truck mechanism was located beside the driver's seat and it took between 10 seconds and 15 seconds for the dump basket to be raised or lowered.
He added that it was not known if anyone else was with Mr Nor Ahmad that day but a site supervisor who saw him the day before said he seemed normal.
"He got along well with everybody and did not have any problems. He also got married five months ago," said Mr Lau. He said the police did not suspect foul play.
However, that did not satisfy Mr Nor Ahmad's daughter, Ms Suriatini Nor Ahmad, 32, who asked if her father's death may have been suicide rather than an industrial accident.
Mr Lau said no note was found at the scene but Ms Suriatini told the court her father's current wife said he had left a note asking her to pay his list of creditors.
Ms Suriatini said her father had two mobile phones, one of which he used to contact her frequently.
"I am very close to him," she said. Her father had sent her text messages to say he was in a lot of debt, and on July 19, the day before he died, had sent her an SMS to say he wanted to pour acid on himself. "I am not sure if he was trying to get attention from me," said Ms Suriatini.
Mr Lau said he was not aware of her father's second mobile phone or his debts.
The coroner asked Ms Suriatini to give the phone messages as well as her statement to investigators.
The case will be heard again later this month.
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