Four men have been arrested just 48 hours after a teen was brutally hacked to death in a gang fight at Downtown East. Police have classified the case as murder, which carries the death penalty.

Republic Polytechnic student Darren Ng Wei Jie, 19, had suffered multiple slash wounds and a stab wound to his abdomen. Despite his injuries he had managed to stagger about 70m and even climbed a flight of stairs with his friend's help before collapsing in front of the restaurant in Pasir Ris at about 6pm on Saturday.

He later died at Changi General Hospital at 10.55 pm.

Witnesses said that Darren was part of a group of youths who had become involved in a staring incident with another group. The confrontation turned violent not long after, leaving Darren fatally injured.

For STOMPer Zeroz who was at the scene of the incident, the atmosphere at Downtown East on Saturday night (October 30) turned tense when CID officers cordoned off the area to investigate.

Officers from the Crime Investigation Department later placed markers all over the floor and a clear blood trail could be seen, he says. According to Zeroz, the officers also entered Sakura Japanese Restaurant, which was then closed for police investigations.

In an email, Zeroz says:

"I was at Downtown East this evening and saw a stabbing/murder scene.

"I was entering Downtown East when I saw police cordoning off many areas which have blood stains.

"I saw paramedics leaving the area.

"I saw so much blood forming the blood trail, which led from Popeye's to the ATM near Just Acia.

"There was also a lot of blood stains at the stairs leading up to Sakura restaurant.

"The Sakura restaurant was closed and there were many police officers in there.

"There were also blood stains outside D' Marquee.

"Later, I saw officers from CID taking crime scene evidence.

"The letters used were from A all the way to Z. Just imagine how many clues there were!"