Body found off Changi Beach believed to be that of 19-year-old fish farmer who fell into sea and drowned

Jalelah Abu Baker, Straits Times AsiaOne 29 Jan 17;

Singapore - A 19-year-old fish farmer is believed to have fallen into the sea off Changi Beach on Friday (Jan 27)and drowned.

The Myanmar national was brought to shore by passers-by at about 6pm the next day.

Fish farm owner Phillip Lim, who happened to be in the area, said he saw the man on a pontoon with three of his colleagues when he left his farm at about 10am on Friday.

When he returned, Mr Lim, 55, found out that the man, who works at a neighbouring farm, had fallen into the water.

Mr Lim told The Straits Times: "I immediately got my diving gear and started to look for him. I spotted him, but the current was getting strong and I couldn't get to him. I ran out of oxygen."

Mr Lim stopped his search at noon, after an hour. He said that by the time professional divers arrived, it was about 3pm.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call at 11.20am on Friday about a person believed to be missing in the waters off Pulau Ubin. It dispatched a marine fire vessel, which arrived at noon, and conducted a surface search in the area till about 4pm.

Mr Lim said: "I felt so helpless. This is somebody's child we are talking about."

He activated 10 fellow members of a volunteer search team called Sea Angels and they searched for the man till 8pm on Saturday.

According to beach-goer Rohana M. D., a passer-by spotted the victim's body floating in the water on Saturday. Two other passers-by then pulled the body to shore. The police were alerted at about 6pm and the victim was pronounced dead by paramedics shortly after.


Body of man 'with no eyes' found at Changi Beach
Shazalina Salim, Straits Times AsiaOne 29 Jan 17;

Many families chose to spend their long weekend with a picnic by the sea.

But for a handful of beachgoers, their picnic was interrupted on Saturday (Jan 28) when a body was fished out of the water at Changi Beach.

According to housewife Rohana MD, a man had spotted the body floating and he alerted another man who was fishing with a net.

The man with the net pulled the floating body to shore and a passer-by helped him drag the body to the beach.

"It looked like the dead man was missing his eyes," Madam Rohana told The Straits Times.

The police confirmed receiving a call from a member of the public at 6pm on Saturday, alerting them to the body found near Changi Beach Carpark 6.

Facebook user Indra Eth, who was also at the beach at the time, posted a picture of the body and recounted how he was approached by two men who had spotted the floating body.

As at 9.15pm, the body had yet to be removed by the authorities, said Madam Rohana. She added that the police had been talking to the people on the beach.