The 84-year-old driver who allegedly hit two men, aged 76 and 83, on Oct. 11 at about 8am in Toa Payoh Lorong 8, which led to their deaths, was good friends with the two victims.

The three men and another 77-year-old man were all friends and were supposed to meet at Toa Payoh to go to Johor Bahru for leisure that morning when tragedy struck.

Details derived in the aftermath of the accident were reported by Shin Min Daily News.

The incident took place on the road beside the Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Market & Hawker Centre.

Driver and victims knew one another

According to the Chinese media, the 84-year-old driver had gone to pick up three friends to go to Johor Bahru.

Shin Min reported that the car reportedly came to a stop, but the driver allegedly lost control after he was suspected to have hit the accelerator instead of the brakes and ended up hitting his two friends.

The two men who died were supposed to board the car with a third passenger, aged 77, who was standing a distance away.

The third passenger, who escaped unscathed, claimed that the car went into a spin before hitting the two men who were standing behind and beside the vehicle.

All four men were good friends and reportedly would go to Johor Bahru together almost weekly.

The 84-year-old driver has been arrested for reckless driving causing death.

Traumatised

The one friend who survived among the three passengers said he was traumatised by the accident.

The Chinese media reported that he kept replaying the crash in his mind, and he could not sleep that night.

The four men were looking forward to their trip together, but two of them ended up dead, Shin Min reported.

Driver said he wanted to die

The driver was distraught after the accident and was overheard saying he wanted to jump off a building to kill himself.

The arrangement previously was for the 84-year-old driver to pick the rest of the group up at Toa Payoh, and the 76-year-old deceased man would take over and be the driver en route to Malaysia.

Older deceased man was going to JB to buy adult diapers for wife

The son of the 83-year-old deceased man told Shin Min that his father was heading to Johor Bahru to buy adult diapers for his elderly wife, who is wheelchair-bound and had previously contracted cancer.

The elderly man would buy adult diapers in Malaysia as the prices were cheaper.

The wife has been ill for about four to five years.

The son said he does not blame the driver involved in the accident and is only asking for an account of what happened.

Family of younger deceased man forgives driver

The family of the 76-year-old deceased man said they have forgiven the driver and hoped that he would not be too hard on himself, Shin Min reported.

The younger deceased man was fighting for his life for seven hours in hospital before passing away, it was also reported.

The daughter of the 76-year-old deceased man told Shin Min that her father had just retired 10 years ago, and the family was planning on going on holiday in Taiwan at the end of the year.

The daughter also said: "No one expected this accident to happen. Even though we are very sad, we know the driver is also very sad, but we hope he does not feel guilty about it."

But her family has come to terms with the accident.

The daughter added: "We can handle and accept this news. I even joked with my mother that she should make arrangements before she passed, or else, she would be like dad, who passed away suddenly and left us scrambling."

What happened

The 83-year-old man was badly hurt and bleeding profusely at the scene.

Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel arrived at the site of the accident, and within 10 minutes, conveyed the injured men to the hospital.

Both victims were seen lying on the ground.

One man was lying near the road divider, while the other was lying two lanes away, near the mouth of the multi-storey car park at 3A Lorong 7 Toa Payoh.

The signboard for the parking rates was knocked over.

Top photo via Shin Min Daily News