SINGAPORE: A 58-year-old woman was decapitated after an industrial accident on Monday (Jun 25) afternoon at 8A Admiralty Street.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Tuesday in response to queries from Channel NewsAsia that the victim was one of two workers operating a material hoist, which was used to move items between the mezzanine level and the kitchen level below it.
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"They were within the hoist when it descended abruptly, causing the workers to fall. One of the workers was caught between the hoist and its landing at the mezzanine level as she fell," MOM said.
The woman was later pronounced dead by paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
Police said they are investigating the case.
The woman was working for catering company Thyme Food & Services, according to MOM. It added that it has stopped the use of the material hoist and is currently investigating the incident.
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A Homeland Security vehicle is parked outside a federal government building in San Diego, Calif., September 24, 2013. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
A decapitated and burned animal carcass was recently discovered on the front porch of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official’s Washington, D.C. home, ABC Radio reported Monday.
The incident came amid an increase in threats against DHS employees, with some two dozen reported in the past few days. DHS sent a letter Saturday to all employees apprising them of the “heightened threat,” which appears to have been exacerbated by a broader national backlash against the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration-enforcement policy.
“This assessment is based on specific and credible threats that have been levied against certain DHS employees and a sharp increase in the overall number of general threats against DHS employees,” Claire Grady, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, wrote to employees on Saturday in a letter obtained by ABC.
Roughly 2,300 children had been separated from their parents since the Trump administration announced in May that it would prosecute everyone who crossed the border illegally. President Trump ostensibly ended family separations via executive order Wednesday and more than 500 children have reportedly been reunited with their parents since.
The controversial policy prompted widespread protests and the public harassment of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, who was heckled by members of the Democratic Socialists of America while eating at a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C. last week. Protesters then gathered around Nielsen’s home on Friday and chanted “shame” while playing audio of crying children at a holding facility. On Saturday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders described being refused service at a Virginia restaurant.
In addition to the public displays of opposition against administration officials, which were endorsed Saturday by Representative Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), ICE agents have had their personal information leaked online in response to the Trump administration’s enforcement approach. WikiLeaks published information associated with more than 9,000 such employees Thursday, saying the leaks were aimed at “increasing accountability.”
NOW WATCH: ‘5 Times Maxine Waters Was Awful’
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The woman had been trying to help with something when the accident at Thyme Food and Services located in Food Xchange @ Admiralty occurred.
A woman, 58, was killed in an industrial accident at a food caterer in Admiralty yesterday.
The New Paper understands she was decapitated after she got stuck between a platform and a faulty cargo hoist that she was checking.
The incident occurred at Thyme Food and Services located in Food Xchange @ Admiralty, an industrial facility for food manufacturers.
Thyme said the cargo hoist is used to transport goods inside its unit on the seventh-storey roof.
A police spokesman told TNP they were alerted shortly after 4pm and are investigating the unnatural death.
A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said the woman was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
One of Thyme's directors, Mr Lawrence Hee, 44, told reporters at the scene that the employee's work involved bookkeeping and procurement.
"She was someone with a strong sense of responsibility. She would watch your back and go beyond her normal duties," he added.
She started working for Thyme about two years ago after being made redundant by Mr Hee's wellness company where she worked for seven years.
He said her work was confined to an office area within the unit, away from the kitchen where the hoist was located.
"She shouldn't be anywhere near the hoist, but she went to help with something when the accident happened."
She was married with children and grandchildren, said Mr Hee, as his eyes welled up.
"I will need to face the family and offer them whatever support they need."
The body was taken away in a police van at around 8.30pm.
A decapitated and burned animal carcass was found on the porch of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staffer, the latest in a spate of threats tied to President Trump's immigration policy, according to WTOP/ABC.
Around two dozen incidents have been reported against government employees issued in the past few days - primarily against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, which resulted in a determination by Homeland Security that there is a "heightened threat against DHS employees."
The uptick in threats comes amid multiple protests directed at ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers, as well as the DHS secretary. It’s unclear exactly how much the threats have increased. -WTOP/ABC
“This assessment is based on specific and credible threats that have been levied against certain DHS employees and a sharp increase in the overall number of general threats against DHS employees,” said Claire Grady, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security in a Saturday letter to employees.
The left loses its cool
DHS employees aren't the only ones receiving backlash for Trump's enforcement of existing immigration laws. On Sunday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) openly called for people to form a mob and physically confront members of Donald Trump's administration if they see them out in public after controversy over separated migrant families erupted two weeks ago.
Waters' rhetoric drew a sharp rebuke from President Trump, who wrote over Twitter: "Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max!"
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018
Waters' comments came on the heels of several members of Trump's administration being physically confronted by angry leftists.
Last week a group of protesters with the Democratic Socialists of America - including a DOJ paralegal - chased Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen out of a Mexican restaurant near the White House. Days later, protesters showed up at Nielsen's Alexandria townhouse.
Protestors are outside of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s Alexandria townhouse, playing audio of the detained children. She appears to be still be home. pic.twitter.com/akIcxOcM3q — Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 22, 2018
And on Friday night, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was ejected from a Lexington, VA restaurant because the gay staff was too triggered by her presence. After the story went viral, Sanders posted to Twitter: "Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so "
Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 23, 2018
Meanwhile, White House adviser Stephen Miller - largely credited with pushing President Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy of arresting and processing those entering the U.S. illegally - was heckled at a Mexican restaurant two days before Nielsen was harassed. And on Saturday, left-wing activists harassed Florida AG Pam Bondi at a movie theater.
Pam Bondi attempted to attend a screening of the Mister Rogers documentary a day after announcing her plan to end protections for health care consumers with pre-existing conditions. Here, via @timintampa, is what happened. pic.twitter.com/zMLrSayS8M — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 23, 2018
“It is part of a trend,” said Bondi. “When you’re violent and cursing and screaming and blocking me from walking into a movie, there’s something wrong,” she said. “The next people are going to come with guns. That’s what’s going to happen.”
Then of course there's Peter Fonda, who wished in now-deleted Tweets that 12-year-old Barron Trump should be kidnapped and thrown in a cage with pedophiles - which First Lady Melania Trump called the Secret Service over.
As Politico notes, shaming of public officials is nothing new.
The public shaming of party officials is more closely associated with Latin American politics. Last year, Venezuelan expatriates in South Florida engaged in what they called a “social media manhunt” of officials with ties to the regime, chanting them out of diners. The protest confrontations have been traced back to what were called “escraches” in the 1990s in Argentina, where victims of the former military dictatorship accosted their accused torturers in public confrontations. Just in the past week, a number of senior Trump administration officials were subjected to the U.S. version of escraches in both Washington, D.C., and outside the city.
Meanwhile, the hate is starting to trickle down to average Trump voters.
“There’s not more energy on the left. There’s more hatred,” said Peruvian immigrant Jackie Toledo, a Tampa Republican who said her kids were harassed in a coffee shop. “I signed up for this. But my kids? I thought kids were off limits. Family is off limits. And it backfires when you attack families.”
