Elderly driver killed in 3-vehicle crash

A 79-year-old man died in a three-car accident at the junction of Sengkang Central and Buangkok Drive yesterday.

Eight people were also injured in the accident, which happened at about 12.30pm.

A passer-by, Mr Joseph Lee, told The Straits Times that he was driving past the scene of the accident and decided to stop to help.

The victim was trapped in the driver's seat of his Hyundai sedan, he said.

Mr Lee, a trained medic, said he attempted to revive the man with an automated external defibrillator but was unsuccessful.

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers later managed to free the man using hydraulic tools. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The elderly man's family arrived at around 3pm and were seen crying loudly a distance from the body.

ACCIDENT

A middle-aged woman in yellow, who identified herself as the man's daughter, told The New Paper that her father was on his way home with his maid, who might have been sitting in the front passenger seat, when the accident occurred.

She said that the maid had been taken to the hospital.

The woman added that the family was not sure how the accident had happened and were waiting for the police to get back to them after their investigations.

An SCDF spokesman said seven of the injured - four women and three men - were taken conscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. The eighth person, a man, refused to be taken to hospital.

A housewife, who was on her way home from a nearby supermarket, told TNP she heard a loud bang and saw a crowd gathering at the traffic junction.

The woman, who declined to be named, said in Mandarin: "There was a driver who was trapped in the car, and some passers-by tried to pull him out but were unable to do so."

The SCDF said it initially sent an ambulance to the scene but later sent reinforcements to free the trapped driver.

The police said investigations are ongoing.

There was a driver who was trapped in the car, and some passers-by tried to pull him out but were unable to do so.

- A passer-by who declined to be named