The Chief of Staff - General Staff, Brigadier-General Siew Kum Wong, has expressed the Singapore army's "deepest condolences" to the family of Private Dave Lee Han Xuan.

The full-time National Serviceman passed away after suffering from heat injury on April 30, 2018.

The condolence message also said PTE Lee will be given a military funeral.

The 19-year-old will also be awarded a posthumous recognition of the rank of Corporal First Class (CFC), and given the Guards and RECON military tabs that he had been training for.

The Armed Forces Council will convene an independent Committee of Inquiry (COI) to investigate the circumstances leading to Lee's death.

The COI will be chaired by a yet-to-be named senior civil servant from outside the Ministry of Defence and Singapore Armed Force.

You can read the Army's statement below:

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In case you can't read the embedded Facebook post, we reproduced the statement below:

The Army is saddened by the passing of the late PTE Lee Han Xuan Dave, and extend our deepest condolences to his family. The Army will do our utmost to support his family in this time of grief. We will give a dignified send-off for our fallen soldier, to honour his memory. In recognition of his service, he was accorded posthumous recognition of the rank of Corporal First Class (CFC). CFC Lee will also be awarded the Guards and RECON military tabs, and the Guards beret he was training hard for. We will also accord him a military funeral.

As with all training related deaths, the Armed Forces Council will convene an independent Committee of Inquiry (COI), chaired by a senior civil servant from outside MINDEF/SAF, to investigate the incident. The COI has full powers and access to information and personnel to investigate the circumstances leading to death, determine the contributory factors, and make recommendations to rectify any lapses or inadequacies uncovered. Should there be training safety violations, the personnel responsible will be held accountable.

Safety is of utmost importance to the SAF. The Army had declared a safety timeout for all training on 30 Apr 18. Training and safety management plans were reviewed to ensure that all appropriate safety measures are in place. The Army is determined to ensure that all our soldiers can train realistically and safely.

BG Siew Kum Wong

Chief of Staff - General Staff

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Cover image of the SAF Guards via CyberPioneer

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