 Victims of the accident. (L–R) Chee Wei Cheng, Jeremy Goh, Reuben Kee, Stephen Loh, and Poh Boon San | |
| Date | 23 November 2007 (2007-11-23) |
|---|---|
| Location | Tonlé Sap, Cambodia |
| Cause | collision with a pontoon |
| Deaths | 5 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 17 |
On 23 November 2007, a 22-member Singapore national dragon boat team capsized after colliding with a pontoon in Tonlé Sap, Cambodia, leading to the deaths of five Singaporean dragon boat paddlers after they were sucked under the pontoon by strong water currents.
They were participating in Bon Om Touk, an annual Cambodian festival. The five Singaporeans were found on 25 November floating downstream towards Phnom Penh. They were later identified by relatives and brought to Calmette Hospital.
Background
The Singapore national dragon boat team had arrived in Cambodia on the morning of 23 November, the first time that Singapore had participated in the Bon Om Touk, where the Tonlé Sap River reverses in its water flow towards the lake. Before beginning, the Singapore team noticed that the currents were stronger that day and that the water was dirty. The Singapore team also decided to not wear lifejackets as it would have allowed them to "paddle faster".
Incident
On 23 November, after the race, the Singapore team was being brought back to shore by a safety vessel. However, after seeing other teams paddle back to shore, opted to paddle back themselves to practice and get a better feel of the water conditions.
Upon reaching the pontoon, they slowly navigated the 50m gap between the two pontoons and began angling the boat halfway to turn into the docking point, however, a sudden shift in direction caused the dragon boat to capsize sideways and all 22 dragon boat paddlers and the boat were sucked underneath the pontoon by strong currents. Out of the 22, only 17 paddlers could be recovered.
Search efforts
Soon after, the first responders were eight divers and five boats from a speedboat workshop near Chroy Changvar Bridge. Nhim Vanda, Head of Cambodia's Disaster Management Agency, was called on by then-Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen to aid in the search efforts.
On 24 November, the search party had grown to 400 people—Cambodian police, navy, and fishermen. 3 million riel was offered to find the paddlers and the search was widened to the whole venue of the festival. By midday, they tried attaching fishing nets to the bottom of search boats in an attempt to pick up the paddlers. At about 3 p.m., Singapore sent a 8-man Naval Diving Unit team to aid in the search.
On 25 November, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines offered to help in the search efforts. After replacing the fishing nets with metal hooks, they found the first body at Koh Pich at 8 a.m. and two more bodies soon after, 40 hours after the incident. The final two bodies resurfaced on their own.
Victims
The victims are as follows.
- Chee Wei Cheng, 20
- Jeremy Goh, 24
- Stephen Loh, 31
- Poh Boon San, 27
- Reuben Kee, 23
Aftermath
The bodies were later brought to Calmette Hospital where they were cleaned and treated by traditions from the Embassy of Singapore in Cambodia. On 28 November, the Singapore Dragon Boat Association made wearing lifejackets mandatory for all dragon boat paddlers. On 29 November, a memorial service was held for the 5 paddlers at Mandai Crematorium and a speech was given by the captain of the dragon boat Yeo Chin Hwei. Then-Minister for Community Development and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan attended the memorial service.
Then-Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed condolences to his Singaporean counterpart, then-Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. In December, an inquiry panel was launched to investigate the dragon boat incident. In 2008, the inquiry panel stated that a combination of factors such as the paddler's unfamiliarity of the race venue, the low safety awareness, and the lack of preparation may have led to the accident.
In 2008, two survivors of the accident, Alex Loh Kar Meng and Xie Jiaqi, launched a bursary at Nanyang Technological University called the Poh Boon San and Stephen Loh Soon Ann NTU Dragon Boat Endowed Bursary Fund. In 2023, the Singapore dragon boat team made its return to Cambodia, 16 years after the accident, to participate in the 2023 SEA Games.
See also
References
- ^ "Bodies of six men missing after boat race recovered in Cambodia". The New York Times. 25 November 2007. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Ong, Justin; Chandramohan, Gaya; Choy, Kenneth; Chia, Calvin; Bottomley, David; Chung, Lyn-Yi. "TIDES THAT BIND". CNA. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- Chan Hui Li, Carol (28 November 2007). "Did officials check racing conditions?". TODAY. p. 22. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- Quek, Carolyn (26 November 2007). "Team 'decided not to wear life jackets to paddle faster'". The Straits Times. p. 3. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- "Boat hits swirling currents and flips". The New Paper. 24 November 2007. p. 3. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- Loh, Sharon; Tan, Judith; Quek, Carolyn (26 November 2007). "Bodies of dragon boat paddlers recovered". The Straits Times. p. 1. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- "Five ordinary men, an extraordinary legacy". The Straits Times. 1 December 2007. p. 81. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- "Life jackets must be worn at overseas meets now". The Straits Times. 28 November 2007. p. 38. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- "Joint memorial service today". The Straits Times. 29 November 2007. p. 43. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- "Strangers join family and friends to say goodbye". The Straits Times. 30 November 2007. p. 54. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- "Dragon boat inquiry panel". The Straits Times. 3 December 2007. p. 16. Retrieved 9 July 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- Tan Kok Kiang, Bernard (4 June 2008). "Safety Inquiry Reveals Factors That Led To Dragon Boat Incident". www.sportsingapore.gov.sg. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- Cheong, Bryan (9 December 2021). "Bursary fund for needy NTU dragon boaters included in digital time capsule to mark school's 30th anniversary". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- Kwek, Kimberly (12 May 2023). "SEA Games 2023: Singapore make 'difficult' return to Cambodia for 1st time since 2007 dragon boat tragedy". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 9 July 2024.