9 hurt in bus-lorry crash at East Coast Road
While looking for a parking space, he was startled by a deafening sound.
The bar manager, who wanted to be known only as Mr Jaems, 27, looked ahead and was shocked at the sight before him.
An SBS bus had collided into the side of a lorry, causing the windscreens of both vehicles to shatter.
"It was very messy and chaotic. I could see the passengers panicking and getting off the bus," Mr Jaems said.
The accident happened at the junction of Telok Kurau Road and East Coast Road at around noon yesterday.
Seven bus passengers, the bus driver and the lorry driver were taken to Changi General Hospital. It is not clear if the lorry had any passenger.
The accident attracted a crowd of about 30, with some onlookers helping to direct traffic around the damaged vehicles, said Mr Jaems.
"I was unable to offer help as I was caught in the jam caused by the accident," he added.
When he returned to the scene to take a look after parking his vehicle, ambulances had arrived.
Mr Jaems said he saw some of the bus passengers with bandages around their heads and knees.
"There was blood on some of their clothes and blood was also seeping through the bandages," he said.
Mr Isaiah Tan, 41, an entrepreneur, called The New Paper after he saw the accident while driving his son to school.
He said: "The accident looked quite serious."
ASSISTANCE
Ms Tammy Tan, senior vice-president of corporate communications at SBS Transit, told TNP yesterday: "Our priority is on the well-being of our passengers.
"Our duty team was at the hospital in the afternoon to extend care and render assistance as best we can to the seven injured passengers."
An SCDF spokesman said it received a call at 11.57am. Four ambulances, two fire bikes, a fire engine and a Red Rhino were sent to the scene.
The spokesman confirmed that nine casualties were taken to Changi General Hospital. No one was trapped.
Investigations are ongoing.
"There was blood on some of their clothes, and it was also seeping through the bandages."
- Mr Isaiah Tan, who contacted TNP after he saw the accident while driving his son to school
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