| Tragic deaths of two youths |
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| Features | |
| Friday, 22 October 2010 | |
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Mingwei Tan was only 20-years-old, a brilliant student in her third year of medical studies at Cambridge University, half a world away from her home, her parents and her school friends – just like thousands of other young Chinese living or studying in Britain.
It was 1.50 a.m. one Thursday morning, apparently after a long study and work session, when Mingwei was crossing the road outside the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead and was hit by a red double-decker night bus. It was dark, she was alone and nobody was there, in the final moments of Mingwei’s life.
Mingwei was dragged for a mile along Pond Street and Haverstock Hill and her bloodied body was spotted lying in the road by a shocked, passing motorist outside Belsize Park tube station. Over 30 police officers and crime scene investigators rushed to the scene, where Mingwei was pronounced dead by paramedics.
CCTV cameras helped police track down the bus, but the driver said he was unaware of hitting anybody. However, DNA tests of blood and body fragments on the bus confirmed that his vehicle had hit Mingwei. The driver, 50, was arrested and bailed, pending further investigations. He faces charges of careless driving and failing to stop after an accident.
A Scotland Yard spokesman told me: “Her shoes, parts of her clothing, her bag, identity papers and a mobile phone were found strewn along the road and showed that the victim was Mingwei Tan, from Singapore.”
The next day, at Cambridge University, flags were flown at half-mast in her memory and notices were posted at different points, sadly reporting their student’s tragic death.
George Starling, 19, a second-year engineering student at Cambridge, saw one of the notices and told somebody with him: “That’s my college mother!”
As George’s student mentor, Mingwei was the person who showed him around the university when he first arrived. They were both members of Peterhouse College. She introduced him to her friends and the two joined in many social activities together.
Mingwei’s death shocked George and he became inconsolable, in the depths of despair. Friends saw him weeping. He locked himself in his room, switched off his mobile so his parents or friends could not contact him and he avoided other students.
Four days after Mingwei’s death, in his small room in a student flat in Fitzwilliam Street Cambridge city centre, George committed suicide.
Flags were again flown at half-mast at the university, this time in memory of George.
His father, Lt-Col John Starling, a small arms expert with the British Army, said: “George was a very close friend of Mingwei. I do not know if they were boyfriend and girlfriend – we never discussed things like that. But I do know he was grieving very, very badly over her death.”
A Cambridge University spokesman told me: “Both students were academically brilliant, both were very liked by fellow students and both were very involved in university activities away from the classrooms. Mingwei was president of the Karate Club and George was a talented rower.”
I was the only member of the public present at St Pancras Coroner’s court when acting Deputy Coroner Ms Suzanne Greenaway opened an inquest into Mingwei’s death and quickly adjourned it, pending further police inquiries.
A short distance away, in St Pancras Mortuary, lay Mingwei’s body, her identity confirmed by her father, senior research fellow Mr Tan Tarn How and his wife, Cheam Li Chang, who had flown in from Singapore. Later, at a quiet ceremony in London, Mingwei’s body was cremated and her ashes taken home by her mum and dad.
On Friday, October 22, hundreds of relatives, including her elder sister, friends and students attended a Remembrance Service for Mingwei. At the same time, family and friends mourned George Starling’s death.
The memorials marked the sad end of a terrible double tragedy, the deaths of two very close student friends.
Alfred Lee This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it |
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