Despite its name, Lucky Plaza hasn’t always been… well… lucky.
Back in 2019, an errant driver was driving near the shopping mall when he ploughed into six Filipino women.
Two were killed amid the impact, while the other four were injured.
Three were left in a severe state.
As a result, the driver, Chong Kim Hoe, was charged with three counts of dangerous driving in September 2020.
And nearly two years after the fatal accident, Chong is due to pay the price.
Driver in Lucky Plaza Fatal Crash Sentenced to 2.5 Years Jail
Earlier today (24 September 2021), Chong pleaded guilty to his offences, and was given an imprisonment sentence of two years and six months.
He will also be disallowed from driving any vehicle for a period of ten years.
The sentence comes after the fatal accident near Lucky Plaza, wherein two women, Ms Abigail Danao Leste, 41, and Ms Arlyn Picar Nucos, 50, were killed.
Chong, who was working as a Grab driver at the time, had made a U-turn in Nutmeg Road when he accidentally stepped on the accelerator.
The car ended up mounting the kerb and crashing into the sidewalk, where Ms Abigail, Ms Arlyn and four other women were having a picnic.
The vehicle then mowed down a metal railing and plunged metres down onto Lucky Plaza’s carpark exit road, where it grinded to a halt.
Meanwhile, Ms Egnal Layugan Limbauan and Ms Laila Flores Laudencia, both 43, and Ms Arceli Picar Nucos, 56, were grievously hurt.
Ms Demet Limbauan Limbauan, 37, also suffered injuries from the accident.
All six women were domestic helpers here.
Following the accident, the Centre for Domestic Employees and the Domestic Employees Welfare Fund took to Giving.sg to raise funds online for the victims and the deceased’s relatives. After around a week, more than S$360,000 was raised from nearly 3,000 donors.
Of the two deceased, Ms Abigail had been the sole breadwinner of her family, having supported two children on her own.
After working in Singapore for more than 20 years, she was supposed to go back to Cagayan, Philippines, to attend her daughter’s graduation ceremony.
Chong
In mitigation, Chong’s lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya expressed that Chong had driven for 44 years without any serious mishap.
He had, however, been fined on four separate occasions for failing to await a red light traffic signal.
For dangerous driving causing death, he could have been imprisoned for up to eight years.
For dangerous driving causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to S$10,000.
For dangerous driving causing grievous hurt, he could have been jailed for between one and five years.
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Featured Image: Facebook (HV RIDERS AND DRIVERS SINGAPORE); ALDECA studio/shutterstock.com