S’porean crash victims in Melbourne facing financial difficulties

SINGAPORE: The Fauzi family who met with the horrific accident in Melbourne is receiving kind support from other Singaporeans living in the city.

But according to friends, they are still facing financial hardship.

Friends of the family said living expenses will cost them about S$6,500 (A$5,000) a month for food, accommodation and travel to and from hospitals.

And they are expected to remain in Melbourne for three months until they are fit enough to take the flight home.

The 12—year—old son is still in hospital, while the other family members require regular medical checkups.

A friend of the family, Thomas Lim, told Channel NewsAsia that the parents are still weak from their injuries.

Taking public transport has been difficult, forcing the family to take expensive taxi trips to and from the hospital.

The Muslim community has been providing them with packed meals.

And informal groups on Facebook — ’Sg Kongsi in Australia’ and ’Melbourne SG Kampong’ — have raised A$1,300 to help.

But group members said the funds are far from sufficient.

According to Felix Choo, a Singaporean living in Melbourne who has been in contact with the family, the insurance company has now confirmed that it is in the process of helping the family.

"The parents are extremely distressed. They’ve had to deal with loss of a child. Money problems don’t help at all. We’ve only been able to help them probably for a couple of weeks with the amount of money we’ve raised, and that’s running out as well. What they really need is for their insurance company to start helping them with some of the expenses."

— CNA/ck