The mother of a seven-year-old girl killed in a school bus accident at a Sengkang condominium in 2024 said she cries every day, remembering her daughter as a kind, compassionate and loving girl who could light up a room with her smile.<\/p>\n
She was speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after the state coroner ruled the incident a \u201croad traffic-related accident\u201d at a coroner\u2019s inquiry on Oct 7.<\/p>\n
According to The Straits Times<\/a>, the accident occurred at about 6.20am on Aug 15, 2024, at The Topiary, a condominium along Fernvale Lane in Sengkang.<\/p>\n The girl, Nivya Rameshwar, was waiting to board a school bus when she was struck by another minibus within the condominium compound. She was taken to hospital but died from her injuries.<\/p>\n During the Oct 7 hearing, the coroner noted that a wall near the accident site was more than 1.8m tall, while the bushes reached about 1.4m.<\/p>\n These could have obstructed the driver\u2019s view, making it difficult for him to see pedestrians, the coroner said.<\/p>\n Had the wall and bushes been lower, visibility for both drivers and pedestrians would have been much clearer.<\/p>\n The driver, Phua Hak Heong, was arrested on the day of the accident, but has not been charged in court.<\/p>\n Shin Min Daily News reported that Nivya\u2019s mother, Neela Kanagasundaram, was overcome with grief while speaking to reporters and had to be helped by family members to sit down.<\/p>\n She had attended the coroner\u2019s inquiry with a photograph of herself and her daughter. Nearly 20 relatives and friends were also present at the hearing.<\/p>\n Speaking to the media outside court afterwards, she choked back tears as she said it was now up to the authorities to decide what needs to be done.<\/p>\n \u201cFor myself, every day, I cry… It\u2019s painful,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n To her, Nivya was a kind and loving child who never spoke ill of others. She was also a source of joy to everyone around her.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever she walked into a room, it was as though she lit up the entire space,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n During an earlier hearing in February 2025<\/a>, Station Inspector (SI) Jeff Tan, a Traffic Police (TP) investigation officer, told the court what happened on the day of the incident.<\/p>\n According to the domestic helper, Sivakumar Ilavarasi, she had taken Nivya downstairs that morning and asked the girl to wait near a gate while she crossed the road with her school bags.<\/p>\n She told Nivya that she would return to carry her across the road after putting down the bags.<\/p>\n The helper said she looked back while crossing the road and saw Nivya still standing where she had been told to wait.<\/p>\n However, when she placed the bags down and looked back a second time, the girl was no longer there.<\/p>\n After looking around, the helper was horrified to find Nivya lying face down on the ground, covered in blood.<\/p>\n She ran to the girl and cried for help while cradling her. Two residents who heard the commotion quickly called the police.<\/p>\n PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Nivya\u2019s father, Rameshwar Khirodhar, heard the screams and rushed downstairs to check on his daughter. Neela, who is a nurse, also hurried to the scene.<\/p>\n The school bus driver involved in the accident, 68-year-old Phua, testified that it was still dark at the time.<\/p>\n He said he had noticed the helper crossing the road and waited for her to make her way across before continuing to drive.<\/p>\n However, he told the court that he did not see Nivya.<\/p>\n The girl was rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7.32am that day. The cause of death was severe chest and abdominal trauma.<\/p>\n The condominium\u2019s management had initially required school buses to pick up and drop off students at a common pickup point.<\/p>\n However, the arrangement was changed after parents complained that the designated point was too far away, forcing their children to wake up five to 10 minutes earlier.<\/p>\n The management subsequently allowed school buses to enter the condominium\u2019s internal roads to pick up and drop off students at individual blocks.<\/p>\n According to Shin Min, the school bus involved in the accident was travelling at just over 10kmh at the time.<\/p>\n Investigations found that the driver was not using his mobile phone when the accident occurred, and there were no records of incoming calls or messages at the time.<\/p>\n The investigating officer said the driver was not subjected to a breathalyser<\/a> test as there was no indication that he had consumed alcohol before driving.<\/p>\n Have something to say? Join in!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Explore more on these topics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n See something interesting? Contribute<\/a> your story to us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nHigh walls and bushes could have obstructed driver\u2019s view<\/h2>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGirl\u2019s mother overcome with grief<\/h2>\n
Girl run over by minibus while waiting for school bus<\/h2>\n
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Bus driver said he did not see girl<\/h2>\n
School bus was travelling at just over 10kmh<\/h2>\n
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