Wife dies from heart attack after husband falls to death while hanging clothes at Toa Payoh HDB

Double tragedy.

Tanya Ong | August 22, 2019, 10:59 AM

An elderly couple living in Toa Payoh died on August 20, according to a report by Lianhe Wanbao.

Man fell to death

The Chinese daily reported that the 84-year-old man was apparently hanging clothes out to dry at 10:17am when he fell to his death.

The couple lived on the 10th floor.

According to an account by one of the neighbours, she said that she had initially thought the bamboo pole had fallen when she heard the loud thud.

However, when she looked out of her window and saw her neighbour on their ground, she told her grandchildren to call the police immediately.

The body was discovered with a bamboo pole and several clothes next to it.

The police have classified the case as unnatural death.

Wife had heart attack afterward

Another neighbour known as Mira told Wanbao that SCDF personnel were seen entering the man's unit and then bringing the elderly woman, who was unconscious, out on a stretcher.

It is believed that the man's wife, 70, suffered from a heart attack upon realising what had happened to her husband.

The elderly woman was given CPR and sent to the hospital, but could not be saved.

Couple leaves behind three children

The elderly couple live on the 10th floor of Block 26 in Toa Payoh with one of their daughters.

They also have a son and another daughter, who have both moved away to live in separate houses. The daughter apparently visits the elderly couple often with her own child, who is in primary school.

According to the Wanbao report, the eldest daughter rushed over when she heard the news of her father, and started sobbing when she saw the neighbours.

An unnamed neighbour told Wanbao she had bought breakfast for the elderly woman on August 20 (the day of the incident), but the eldest daughter had opened the door instead.

Upon seeing the neighbour, the daughter started crying, saying that her father had met with an accident.

The neighbour said, "The daughter was crying greatly, it pains us to see her that way."

Top photo from Google Streetview