On Nov. 4, a tragic accident at a construction site in Novena killed Muthaiyan Velmurugan, a 28-year-old migrant worker.

Details of the victim's life

Details of Velmurugan’s life subsequently emerged online through local ground-up initiative It’s Raining Raincoats' (IRR) Facebook page.

IRR shared that Velmurugan had been working in Singapore for five-and-a-half years.

He and his wife were expecting their first child, after being married for one-and-a-half years.

According to IRR, Velmurugan’s body was flown back to his home in India, accompanied by his cousin who is also a migrant worker in Singapore.

Raised over S$158,000 for the victim's family

To help raise some money for Velmurugan's family in India, IRR had set up a fundraising drive.

The volunteer group had an initial target of S$150,000.

But recently, the campaign came to an end as it has surpassed its goal.

A total of 2,623 people donated a total of S$158,398 for Velmurugan's family.

There was even one anonymous donor who donated S$1,000:

Founder of IRR, Dipa Swaminathan, told CNA that two volunteers also gave white packets to Velmurugan's cousin.

She added that IRR will wait for Velmurugan's cousin to return from India before passing him the money.

Swaminathan said:

“Our real goal, more than the money, was that we didn't want him to be another statistic.

We wanted everyone to know his name and story.”

Top photos via IRR Give.Asia.