Three dead, 14 injured as lorry tips over
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 23 June 2010.
Three dead, 14 injured as lorry tips over
Workers flung off vehicle as it went out of control
By Ted Chen & Bryan Toh
The Straits Times
Jun 23, 2010
Reproduced photo caption: SCDF officers attending to the injured workers yesterday morning. Of the 14 sent to hospital for treatment, eight of them were discharged by late yesterday. The remaining six were kept to be treated for trauma and cuts, but all were in stable condition. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW
THREE Chinese nationals in their 40s were killed in the morning rush hour yesterday when the lorry they were riding in skidded and tipped over just off the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE).
Fourteen of their colleagues, all also male, were hurt in the accident, which took place along the slip road towards Thomson Road, just off the Changi-bound side of the PIE.
The vehicle was authorised to carry 13 passengers at the back and has space for up to three in the front, including the driver.
The police have yet to confirm the number of workers who were sitting with the driver.
Of the three dead, two died at the scene, and the third, about 31/2 hours later, at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Of the 14 sent there for treatment, eight, including the driver, were discharged by late yesterday. The remaining six were kept to be treated for trauma and cuts, but all were in stable condition.
All work for CREC Construction.
At about 7.35am, the Toyota Dyna lorry went out of control, mounted and lodged itself atop the metal divider separating the slip road to Thomson Road from the thoroughfare of the PIE.
The workers were flung off.
By the time the ambulances arrived about half an hour later, two of them were lying in a drain, one of them already dead.
Those who were injured sat by the kerb outside the old police academy in their blood-spattered clothes as they were given first aid by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
The police closed off one lane on the slip road and the left-most lane of the PIE, causing a rush-hour traffic jam which did not ease until 10.45am, when the lorry was lifted and towed away.
Most of the damage was on the lorry's left side. The passenger door was smashed in, and the windshield lay on the road. The left-side railing on its cargo deck was missing.
Injured workers said that those with more serious injuries sat on the left side of the vehicle.
Mr Zhao Xue Bin, 41, who owns CREC, cautioned the injured workers at the hospital against talking to reporters; he too declined comment, despite repeated calls from The Straits Times.
The accident is the worst involving a lorry since May last year. In that crash, four people lost their lives when their vehicle slammed into a stationary trailer in Tuas.
Rules continue to be ignored, although the latest lot of safety measures which took effect in January have dampened the number of violations.
For example, in the last four months of last year, 201 cases of overloading were logged, but this fell to 80 in the first four months of this year.
Regulations state that the seats in the cabin next to the driver have to be filled before passengers can take up the cargo deck at the rear.
Under Land Transport Authority guidelines, lorries filled beyond capacity can earn their owners a fine or even a jail term, depending on how far beyond capacity the vehicle went.
No one has been arrested yet as investigations get under way. Witnesses are advised to contact the Traffic Police on 1800-547-1818.
Three dead, 14 injured as lorry tips over
Workers flung off vehicle as it went out of control
By Ted Chen & Bryan Toh
The Straits Times
Jun 23, 2010
Reproduced photo caption: SCDF officers attending to the injured workers yesterday morning. Of the 14 sent to hospital for treatment, eight of them were discharged by late yesterday. The remaining six were kept to be treated for trauma and cuts, but all were in stable condition. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOWTHREE Chinese nationals in their 40s were killed in the morning rush hour yesterday when the lorry they were riding in skidded and tipped over just off the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE).
Fourteen of their colleagues, all also male, were hurt in the accident, which took place along the slip road towards Thomson Road, just off the Changi-bound side of the PIE.
The vehicle was authorised to carry 13 passengers at the back and has space for up to three in the front, including the driver.
The police have yet to confirm the number of workers who were sitting with the driver.
Of the three dead, two died at the scene, and the third, about 31/2 hours later, at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Of the 14 sent there for treatment, eight, including the driver, were discharged by late yesterday. The remaining six were kept to be treated for trauma and cuts, but all were in stable condition.
All work for CREC Construction.
At about 7.35am, the Toyota Dyna lorry went out of control, mounted and lodged itself atop the metal divider separating the slip road to Thomson Road from the thoroughfare of the PIE.
The workers were flung off.
By the time the ambulances arrived about half an hour later, two of them were lying in a drain, one of them already dead.
Those who were injured sat by the kerb outside the old police academy in their blood-spattered clothes as they were given first aid by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
The police closed off one lane on the slip road and the left-most lane of the PIE, causing a rush-hour traffic jam which did not ease until 10.45am, when the lorry was lifted and towed away.
Most of the damage was on the lorry's left side. The passenger door was smashed in, and the windshield lay on the road. The left-side railing on its cargo deck was missing.
Injured workers said that those with more serious injuries sat on the left side of the vehicle.
Mr Zhao Xue Bin, 41, who owns CREC, cautioned the injured workers at the hospital against talking to reporters; he too declined comment, despite repeated calls from The Straits Times.
The accident is the worst involving a lorry since May last year. In that crash, four people lost their lives when their vehicle slammed into a stationary trailer in Tuas.
Rules continue to be ignored, although the latest lot of safety measures which took effect in January have dampened the number of violations.
For example, in the last four months of last year, 201 cases of overloading were logged, but this fell to 80 in the first four months of this year.
Regulations state that the seats in the cabin next to the driver have to be filled before passengers can take up the cargo deck at the rear.
Under Land Transport Authority guidelines, lorries filled beyond capacity can earn their owners a fine or even a jail term, depending on how far beyond capacity the vehicle went.
No one has been arrested yet as investigations get under way. Witnesses are advised to contact the Traffic Police on 1800-547-1818.
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