Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
International

Indian from Singapore survives car crash in Japan, loses wife & kid

Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Jan, 2023 11:49 AM
  • Indian from Singapore survives car crash in Japan, loses wife & kid

Photo courtesy of IStock.

Singapore, Jan 20 (IANS) A Singaporean-Indian managed to survive but lost his wife and four month-old child when a rental car he was driving collided with a lorry in Hokkaido, Japan.

Karthik Balasubramanian, 44, who was vacationing in Japan with family, lost his wife Lin, 41, and their daughter Aahana in the fatal accident that occured on January 10, The Straits Times reported.

He returned to Singapore on Wednesday along with his three year-old daughter who survived the crash.

The funeral ceremony of Lin and Aahana will take place on Friday.

According to the report, the car was turning from a side road onto the main road when it collided with the truck which was going straight ahead.

The NHK reported that there were no traffic lights at the junction where the accident took place though there was a stop sign.

Balasubramanian said the road conditions did not allow him to have a good view of an upcoming intersection.

"You can't see anything because there's snow on both sides... You just follow the road and keep driving," he told The Straits Times.

"So (at) the very last minute, like maybe 150m or something, I saw the stop sign. Then I started applying the brakes, but it was too late to stop.

"The only thing I could hear was my wife screaming in the car, like one loud scream. And I can still hear it. After that, I blacked out probably for a few minutes," he told the paper.

The doctors could not revive Lin, Balasubramanian said, adding that their child did not suffer any physical injuries but could not recover from the shock of the accident.

The couple's older daughter needed stitches on her head, while Balasubramanian suffered a hip fracture.

His sister flew down from India after the accident to support him and his daughter, according to the report.

Balasubramanian, who is originally from India, met Lin, a Singapore national, in 2006 through a mutual friend and they got married in 2014.

He told the Times that the "sound of his wife crying out just before the crash still haunts him".

MORE International ARTICLES

Century-old ledger on Sikh diaspora found in Australia

Century-old ledger on Sikh diaspora found in Australia
In Dongara, some 351 km northwest of Perth, more than a century-old leather-bound book containing entries written in Gurmukhi - the official script of the Punjabi language - has been found. 

Century-old ledger on Sikh diaspora found in Australia

4 PIO teens win top US prize for young heroes

4 PIO teens win top US prize for young heroes
The winners include Karina Samuel, 17, from Florida; Karun Kaushik, 17, from California; Laalitya Acharya, 18, from Ohio; and Sri Nihal Tammana, 13, from New Jersey. Established in 2001 by author T.A.Barron, the Barron Prize is a non-profit organisation annually honouring 25 outstanding young leaders from ages 8 to 18. 

4 PIO teens win top US prize for young heroes

Indian-American Uber Eats delivery person attacked in NY by 'super perp'

Indian-American Uber Eats delivery person attacked in NY by 'super perp'
Bharatbhai Patel was attacked early Tuesday morning when he was on an electric bike to make a delivery, according to The New York Post. The alleged attacker, Sean Cooper, was arrested later Tuesday by police, who called him a "super perp" because he had been arrested 103 times for various alleged crimes, the Post said.

Indian-American Uber Eats delivery person attacked in NY by 'super perp'

17 dead, 24 wounded in school shooting in Russia

17 dead, 24 wounded in school shooting in Russia
The government of Udmurtia said 17 people, including 11 children, were killed in the shooting. According to Russia's Investigative Committee, 24 other people, including 22 children, were wounded in the attack.

17 dead, 24 wounded in school shooting in Russia

U.S. lawmakers press DHS on Canada-U.S. border

U.S. lawmakers press DHS on Canada-U.S. border
Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, wants the Department of Homeland Security to lift the vaccine requirement for truck drivers and other travellers. In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Tester says vaccine mandates at the border are making cross-border trade harder and more expensive.

U.S. lawmakers press DHS on Canada-U.S. border

Iran witnesses worst unrest in years as anti-hijab protests spread

Iran witnesses worst unrest in years as anti-hijab protests spread
Anger erupted after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from the north-western city of Saqez, died at a hospital in Tehran last Friday following three days in a coma. She was visiting the capital with her family on September 13 when she was arrested by morality police officers, who accused her of violating the law requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab and their arms and legs with loose clothing. 

Iran witnesses worst unrest in years as anti-hijab protests spread