Body of 42-year-old man found near Pulau Ubin in suspected drowning case
Police retrieve body a day after the man went missing after fishing trip to the island
Ronald Goh
·News and Lifestyle Producer
Wed, 15 March 2023 at 9:26 am GMT·2-min read
Crime scene tape (left) and Pulau Ubin (Photos: Getty Images)
SINGAPORE — The body of a 42-year-old man was retrieved by the Police Coast Guard from the waters off Pulau Ubin on Tuesday morning (14 March).
Lianhe Zaobao reported that the middle-aged man was seen at the island's Puaka Bridge near Jalan Watsiam last Sunday morning, and was believed to have been on the island to do some fishing.
Fishing equipment, clothing and a wallet had been left behind.
Details of the search and rescue operation
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) was subsequently alerted to a case of suspected drowning on Monday at about 11.43am.The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) later received a call for water rescue assistance along Puaka Bridge at about 12.20pm on the same day. There was no sign of the person upon the SCDF's arrival.
Search operations were conducted for the missing person by deploying firefighters to conduct a visual search from the shore. Rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) also deployed an underwater remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) to aid the search effort.
The ROV uses sonar-imaging equipment to map out underwater terrain, thus allowing underwater search operations to be conducted. This reduces risks and search time for the divers due to poor visibility underwater.
Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) (Photo: Facebook/Singapore Civil Defence Force & K Shanmugam Sc)
The search-and-rescue operation by the SCDF stood down once the body was found by a member of the public at about 8.40am on Monday.
Preliminary investigations do not suspect foul play and police investigations are ongoing.
