Bus driver's death is 39th workplace fatality this year
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has confirmed that the bus driver who died early on Sunday morning was a workplace fatality, the 39th of this year.
The 54-year-old Singaporean was driving his SBS Transit bus along Defu Avenue 1 at around 2.40am on Sunday morning to pick up other bus drivers when he crashed into a tree outside the depot, the ministry said.
Online photos and a video of the aftermath of the accident showed that the bus' windscreen had been shattered.
He was trapped in his seat and extricated by Singapore Civil Defence Force officers, and pronounced dead at the scene an hour later, a MOM spokesman added.
Known to his friends and colleagues as Ah Long, he was a loving husband and father, a bus captain of more than 20 years and a respected union leader, said NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and National Transport Workers' Union Executive Secretary Melvin Yong in a tribute on Facebook.
Mr Yong said he visited Ah Long's family on Monday with other union leaders.
"Ah Long leaves behind his wife and three school-going children. I assured the family that the union is working closely with the company and we will do all we can to support them during this difficult time."
The police are investigating the accident.
The 39 workplace deaths so far this year surpassed the 37 workplace fatalities in 2021.
MOM had imposed a six-month heightened safety period from Sept 1, following a rise in work-related deaths and injuries this year.
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