Family joins Thanjavur native in Singapore with month-long vacation plan, returns in grief as he dies inhaling toxic fumes

SINGAPORE: The body of an Indian-origin man who died of inhaling toxic fumes in Singapore has been taken to his hometown in India for the final rites.

Srinivasan Sivaraman, 40, a cleaning operations manager at Supersonic Maintenance Services, died on May 23 after inhaling toxic fumes while flossing a tank at national water agency PUB's Choa Chu Kang Waterworks.

He and two Malaysian workers were discovered unconscious at the PUB facility at around 11.15 am after inhaling the gas. He was pronounced dead at the hospital later that day.

The Malaysian workers are still in intensive care, said Stargroup Est, which employs one of the workers.

Preliminary investigations revealed the workers had inhaled hydrogen sulphide gas, a by-product of the water treatment process, said PUB.

Sivaraman's body was taken to India for the final rites on May 28 after it was embalmed and handed over to his grieving family and friends on May 26, reported The Straits Times and Tamil Murasu, a Tamil language daily here.

Around 50 people, comprising family, friends and colleagues, paid their final respects at a gathering on May 26.

One of them, Sathappillai, 29, who was a friend of the deceased for six years, described Sivaraman as an “elder brother” who was always willing to help others.

“He would always extend a helping hand to anyone in need, never once did he say no,” Sathappillai said.

When the incident occurred, Sivaraman's family was in Singapore for their summer holidays.

The deceased's wife, Narmatha, 35, had come to Singapore on May 2 with their two daughters -- Mahasri, nine, and Srinisha, seven, and stayed with her brother, Mohan Naveenkumar, who works in the food distribution sector here.

The family had planned to stay here for a month before travelling to Malaysia as Sivaraman was set to go on leave on May 27.

The family, however, upon receiving news of Sivaraman's death returned to their home town of Kambarnatham, a village in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, the very next day.

According to Naveenkumar, Narmatha was so distraught by the news that she decided to fly home to be with her relatives.

“On the day of the incident, Sivaraman went to work as usual. He told his family to be ready at 5 pm to visit Gardens by the Bay. His young daughters were also excited about this,” Naveenkumar, 33, said.

He added that Sivaraman's two daughters ask: “Where is our father, who welcomed us with open arms at the Singapore airport? Why is he not here to greet us at home?”

“We are at a loss as to how to break the news to the children that their beloved father will never return home," Naveenkumar said.

“We are coming to terms with the fact that he's no longer with us,” he said.

(Inputs from Bureau)