by Elena Chong
THE family of a project manager who died after an uprooted rain tree fell onto his car is not claiming compensation from National Parks Board (NParks) after all.
Ms Jovina Chua, 40, the elder sister of Mr Chua Loong Wai, 31, said this when interviewed by the media during an inquest into her brother's death last July.
Ms Chua, also a project manager, said it had been half a year, and the family had 'closed the chapter'. She said they did not want to 'create sadness' for everybody, adding that they were slowly moving on in life.
The inquiry heard that Mr Chua was driving his Honda Freed along Yio Chu Kang Road towards Upper Thomson on July 20, 2010 when the roof was crushed by the falling 15m-tall tree during a heavy downpour. The road was not passable to traffic as the tree lay across both lanes.
Mr Chua was found slumped in the driver's seat and civil defence officers took 20 minutes to extricate him. He died from cardiac contusions from a broken breastbone. In his findings, State Coroner Victor Yeo said evidence showed that the tree had been regularly inspected, maintained and pruned.
This was a 'most unfortunate' accident where the adverse weather conditions had resulted in the uprooting of the tree, he said. 'The evidence at this inquiry does not suggest that this ill-fated accidental death could have been reasonably foreseen or prevented for that matter,' he added.