Lorry crashes into Bukit Batok covered linkway
Driver arrested after incident at Bukit Batok
He knew something was going to happen when he saw the lorry with an extended crane approaching the covered linkway.
True enough, the crane crashed into the middle section of the tiled roof, sending part of it crashing down.
Luckily, there were no people or cars around when the tiles fell. But the impact nearly caused the supporting pillars of the linkway to fall over.
The incident happened at Bukit Batok Street 52 yesterdayafternoon. The linkway joined Block 504 and Block 506.
Mr Ivan Chan, 40, was leaving his seventh-storey flat in Block 504 when he witnessed the incident.
He told The New Paper: "When I saw the lorry turning this way, I thought, 'This one confirm hit (the linkway)'."
A resident of Block 506, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, said he was woken up by his next door neighbour, Mr Kamsani Amir, who knew that Mr Goh parked his car near the linkway.
WORRIED
"I was worried at first when my neighbour told me about the linkway, and when I saw it from the corridor," said Mr Goh.
"But when I went down to move my car, I wasn't so worried any more because I didn't think the linkway would fall."
Mr Kamsani and his wife, Madam Salbiah Syed, both 56, had seen the lorry from their kitchen window just minutes before the incident.
"It was removing construction debris from re-roofing works in the area," he said.
Madam Salbiah said she uses the linkway every day to send her granddaughter to school.
"I'm shocked that something like this happened," she said.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the incident at 2.57pm. No assistance was required as there were no injuries.
A police spokesman said the lorry driver, a 46-year-old man, was arrested. Investigations are ongoing.
MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC Low Yen Ling, who visited the scene yesterday afternoon, said of the damaged linkway and its removal: "We're looking into it very closely to ensure the safety of our residents and the safety of the surroundings."
She added that the Building and Construction Authority will work with the original contractors to ensure that the structure is removed safely.
This is the second incident in just over a month where a lorry with a crane crashed into a linkway in Bukit Batok.
On June 17, a linkway at Bukit Batok West Avenue 6 collapsed after similar lorry crashed into it.
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