Reverse crash

She was hanging her clothes to dry outside her first-storey flat yesterday morning, when she heard loud screeching sounds behind her.

Before she knew it, a car that was parked in front of her Toa Payoh flat, reversed suddenly and seemed to be hurtling towards her.

Luckily for Mrs Vasanda Kumari, the car swerved and ended up crashing into a residents' committee (RC) centre just two units from her flat.

"There was such a loud bang and my chest was hurting from the shock," said the 63-year-old housewife. "Thank God it didn't hit my home.

"I was shivering. It could have been me or my neighbours who were hit. I can't do my morning prayers or the housework now," said Mrs Vasanda, who seemed badly shaken two hours after the accident.

Witnesses said the car's rear tyres appeared to be giving off smoke before the accident at 9.40am at Block 63, Toa Payoh Lorong 4.

A 60-year-old witness, who wanted to be known only as Mr Toh and lives in one of the surrounding blocks, said: "A man on a bicycle near the car kept yelling at the driver to stop, probably because he saw the smoke."

The car then seemed to move forward before it lurched backwards, he said.

IMPACT

Mrs Vasanda said the car reversed to the right and went up the kerb before slamming into the Toa Payoh Central Zone '1' RC Centre. The impact left a hole in the wall and damaged water pipes.

Mr Toh added that the car narrowly missed the cyclist and a woman pedestrian in her 20s.

"The woman was about to pass the back of the car," he added.

He said when the driver got out of his car, he looked pale.

The RC centre, which conducts karaoke sessions and tuition lessons, was empty at the time as it opens only in the afternoon.

"It's a relief there were no children in there when it happened. The RC centre had just been renovated. What a pity," said Madam Seow, a 59-year-old cleaner who lives in the area.

The driver of the car declined to comment.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said no one was hurt. The police are investigating.