A 19-YEAR-OLD youth was killed during a fight which broke out among more than 10 youths at Downtown East last Saturday.
The deceased is believed to be a Darren Ng and he was pronounced dead in Changi General Hospital at about 10.55pm that night, after suffering injuries to his left limbs and below his right rib cage.
The fight broke out between 5pm and 6pm. According to several shopkeepers that my paper spoke to, at least two of the young men were wielding kitchen knifes.
A witness, who wanted to be known only as Wendy, said: "I heard shouting and, suddenly, saw many youths running towards Popeyes, a fast-food restaurant. Two of them had slashes on their arms and legs."
She saw the commotion from Different Taste Cafe & Restaurant and noticed a trail of blood on the ground. One of the youths fell just outside Popeyes, but his friend helped him up and they continued running, she added.
She said: "I saw another youth behind wielding a knife but he kept it in his pouch when he noticed the crowd."
By the time security personnel arrived about 10 minutes later, the youths had dispersed, she said.
A staff member from fast-food restaurant Just Acia said that two young men ran up the stairs leading to Sakura International Buffet restaurant's main entrance.
Sakura staff member Muhammad Irfan Ika, 18, saw the injured youth who later died. He said: "He was sitting down outside the entrance and his friend was telling him to keep his eyes open. He was covered in blood and his cuts were deep."
Ong Wei Zhong, 19, a student who wrote a post about the incident on Stomp last Saturday, said: "I saw paramedics hurrying off with a stretcher (carrying the youth) to the ambulance."
Irfan said that the injured youth's friend went with him in the ambulance.
Some businesses were affected by the chaos.
Sakura's customers had to take a detour to enter the restaurant as it was raining and the main entrance was closed.
Areas that had bloodstains were cordoned off for investigations, and the floor was cleaned only around 8pm.
The police have classified the case as murder and investigations are ongoing.
