Mother calls SCDF after 5-year-old daughter gets trapped inside GetGo car
A family's night took a terrifying turn after their young daughter got trapped in a GetGo rental car at a loading bay at Woodlands Street 41.
Stomper Asfi alerted Stomp to posts made by the girl's mother, Rasyidah Roslan on Threads.
Rasyidah told Stomp the incident happened on April 26 at about 11.40pm when they were about to return home after visiting a friend.
She shared that she had unlocked the car using the GetGo app, allowing her daughter to climb into the back seat first.
However, when she tried to open the driver's door, it had somehow locked itself again.
Panicking, the family tried unlocking the car through the app but received an error message -- leaving the five-year-old girl stuck inside the vehicle.
"My daughter was already crying," said Rasyidah.
She spent about 20 minutes trying to calm her daughter down while speaking to GetGo's customer service for help.
However, despite their best efforts, GetGo staff were unable to unlock the car remotely.
In a video posted by the mother, the young girl could be seen desperately pressing the unlock button from inside the car, but nothing worked.
"I'm distressed, as a parent, how would you feel? Your five-year-old daughter is inside a car and you can't even get her out," the mother says with emotion.
GetGo then told her it would take another 45 minutes for help to arrive.
Unwilling to wait that long, the mother called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) for help instead.
Emergency personnel quickly arrived on the scene and managed to pry open the driver's door, freeing the girl.
"SCDF mentioned that the locking mechanism was faulty," Rasydiah shared.
In a clip, the girl is seen hugging a family member tightly following the ordeal.
"My daughter is safe. But traumatised."
Rasyidah said that she took videos of the incident because "it is unfair that I have to pay for damages for a faulty car when my daughter is trapped inside."
Initially, she was told the family would have to bear the cost of the damages caused during the rescue, but GetGo has since clarified that they will not be held liable.
In response to a Stomp query, a GetGo spokesperson said: "At GetGo, the safety of our users is of utmost priority to us and we are taking this very seriously.
"As this is the first time an incident of such nature was reported, we are currently investigating the incident thoroughly to understand why the locking mechanism was not responsive.
"In the meantime, we have removed the affected vehicle from our platform.
"We recognise that this must have been a stressful experience for our user and acknowledge that we could have responded faster.
"We will review our internal escalation process to improve future response turnaround time.
"We are in close contact with our user and have provided her with the necessary support and updates on the situation.
"We have also clarified that the well-being of her and her family is our priority, and that she will not be liable for any damages on the vehicle.
"Our focus will continue to be on offering support to our user and her family."
On April 27, Rasyidah posted a photo of a care package sent by GetGo and thanked them for it.
She told Stomp that GetGo would also be providing some compensation for what she and her family went through.
