Coroner rules death of 17-year-old boy who was pinned by basketball frame a misadventure
Dunking and holding on to the rim are “part and parcel of the game” and the basketball structure should easily have been able to withstand the forces involved, said the State Coroner.
A 17-year-old Singaporean boy died after a basketball frame collapsed on him during an attempt to dunk, a coroner has ruled. According to State Coroner Adam Nakhoda, the manner in which Mohd Ridwan played basketball that day did not contribute to the accident. The coroner found that it was most likely the poles of the basketball structure had been damaged and then repaired by welding, making it susceptible to collapse.
The structure broke at the weakest point, the welded joint, which the coroner noted could have been avoided if the poles had not been welded together. The basketball court's renovation did not undergo professional engineering oversight, and the company responsible for the installation failed to check the structural integrity of the basketball poles.
The coroner condemned the mishandling of the basketball structure's installation as a tragic accident.
Written by urgent.news from CNA - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
