<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Probe into two deaths in sea chase ends
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>They are the first fatalities in the Coast Guard in decades </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
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Senior Station Inspector Mohd Khalid Muhamad (left) and Senior Staff Sergeant Heah Khim Han died following a collision with a foreign speedboat in 2007.
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</TD><TD align=right> </TD></TR><TR></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=3>Senior Station Inspector Mohd Khalid Muhamad and Senior Staff Sergeant Heah Khim Han (above) died following a collision with a foreign speedboat in 2007. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE inquiry into the deaths in 2007 of two Police Coast Guard (PCG) officers, who died when their vessel went over a speedboat fleeing Singapore's waters, ended yesterday.
State Coroner Victor Yeo announced that he would deliver his findings - the first fatalities in the PCG in decades - next Friday.
Senior Station Inspector Mohd Khalid Muhamad, 41, and Senior Staff Sergeant Heah Khim Han, 29, died after their PCG boat flipped following the collision with the foreign speedboat, which veered directly into their path when pursued by another PCG boat.
The crew of the two patrol boats gave evidence during the inquiry that they were chasing the speedboat - allegedly ferrying illegal workers - which had intruded into Singapore waters and ignored orders to stop.
Senior Staff Sergeant Sharul Fairouk Khamis, who was steering the PCG boat PK 50, said they issued warnings, turned on the siren and also shot six flares across the bow of the smaller boat.
The speedboat, which he referred to as the target boat, was also making sharp, dangerous turns and he estimated the speed of the chase to be in excess of 45 knots, or more than 80kmh.
'It was speeding in a zigzag manner, trying to lure us to collide with buoys and even a nearby jetty,' he said.
Crew commander Mohd Khalid told him to clip the target boat.
He explained that clipping a boat meant using the hardened hull of the patrol boat to sideswipe the engine of the boat in front so as to stall it or knock it off.
'As I was positioning my hull to clip the target boat, the crew commander shouted at me that PK 40 was nearby,' he said.
Two loud bangs later, he found himself underwater.
Earlier at the inquiry, senior investigating officer Christopher Jacob told the coroner that PK 40 and PK 50 were both trying to clip the target boat. It was PK 40 that succeeded first and it sent the speedboat swerving right into the path of PK 50.
Assistant Police Superintendent Jacob said: 'PK 50 skimmed over the target boat before rising and hitting the side of the wheelhouse of PK 40 before falling and overturning in the water.'
He said that the two dead officers were found, after a 10-hour search and rescue operation, in the front compartment of their capsized boat that led to an escape route through a hatch in the hull.
The speedboat was completely wrecked in the crash. Two of its crew drowned while three others were fished out of the waters and handed over to the Malaysian police.
Despite the fatalities, the PCG said on Wednesday that it had reviewed its procedures, and clipping remains one of its tactical measures.
'Other than clipping, PCG has also explored other tactical measures for greater operational flexibility, which can be used as the situation demands,' said its spokesman.
=> No money to buy guns?
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</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>They are the first fatalities in the Coast Guard in decades </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Senior Station Inspector Mohd Khalid Muhamad (left) and Senior Staff Sergeant Heah Khim Han died following a collision with a foreign speedboat in 2007.
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</TD><TD align=right> </TD></TR><TR></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=3>Senior Station Inspector Mohd Khalid Muhamad and Senior Staff Sergeant Heah Khim Han (above) died following a collision with a foreign speedboat in 2007. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE inquiry into the deaths in 2007 of two Police Coast Guard (PCG) officers, who died when their vessel went over a speedboat fleeing Singapore's waters, ended yesterday.
State Coroner Victor Yeo announced that he would deliver his findings - the first fatalities in the PCG in decades - next Friday.
Senior Station Inspector Mohd Khalid Muhamad, 41, and Senior Staff Sergeant Heah Khim Han, 29, died after their PCG boat flipped following the collision with the foreign speedboat, which veered directly into their path when pursued by another PCG boat.
The crew of the two patrol boats gave evidence during the inquiry that they were chasing the speedboat - allegedly ferrying illegal workers - which had intruded into Singapore waters and ignored orders to stop.
Senior Staff Sergeant Sharul Fairouk Khamis, who was steering the PCG boat PK 50, said they issued warnings, turned on the siren and also shot six flares across the bow of the smaller boat.
The speedboat, which he referred to as the target boat, was also making sharp, dangerous turns and he estimated the speed of the chase to be in excess of 45 knots, or more than 80kmh.
'It was speeding in a zigzag manner, trying to lure us to collide with buoys and even a nearby jetty,' he said.
Crew commander Mohd Khalid told him to clip the target boat.
He explained that clipping a boat meant using the hardened hull of the patrol boat to sideswipe the engine of the boat in front so as to stall it or knock it off.
'As I was positioning my hull to clip the target boat, the crew commander shouted at me that PK 40 was nearby,' he said.
Two loud bangs later, he found himself underwater.
Earlier at the inquiry, senior investigating officer Christopher Jacob told the coroner that PK 40 and PK 50 were both trying to clip the target boat. It was PK 40 that succeeded first and it sent the speedboat swerving right into the path of PK 50.
Assistant Police Superintendent Jacob said: 'PK 50 skimmed over the target boat before rising and hitting the side of the wheelhouse of PK 40 before falling and overturning in the water.'
He said that the two dead officers were found, after a 10-hour search and rescue operation, in the front compartment of their capsized boat that led to an escape route through a hatch in the hull.
The speedboat was completely wrecked in the crash. Two of its crew drowned while three others were fished out of the waters and handed over to the Malaysian police.
Despite the fatalities, the PCG said on Wednesday that it had reviewed its procedures, and clipping remains one of its tactical measures.
'Other than clipping, PCG has also explored other tactical measures for greater operational flexibility, which can be used as the situation demands,' said its spokesman.
=> No money to buy guns?
[email protected]
