SINGAPORE - A 70-year-old man died after another taxi crashed into the one he was in outside the entrance of Gleneagles Hospital on Thursday (Oct 4).

The police said they were alerted to the incident, which took place along the Gleneagles Hospital service road, at 11.21am. Two cars and two taxis - one from Trans-Cab, and another from SMRT, were involved in the accident.

One of the taxi drivers, a 62-year-old man was stabilised by medical staff from Gleneagles Hospital before he was taken in a conscious state to National University Hospital (NUH).

The Straits Times understands that this man was the driver of the SMRT taxi.

Typically, Singapore Civil Defence Force ambulances take patients only to restructured public hospitals, which includes NUH. The man's transfer to another hospital could have been at his request or based on the recommendation of medical staff.

Two passengers who were in the Trans-Cab taxi, a 70-year-old man and a 42-year-old man, received medical attention at Gleneagles Hospital.

Gleneagles Hospital said that it was unable to provider further details on the case.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Ms Margaret Teo, vice-president for corporate communications at SMRT, said: "We are saddened to hear that one of the injured has passed away. We are assisting the police with their investigations."

A Trans-Cab spokesman told ST that the left rear part of one of its taxis was damaged when an SMRT taxi crashed into it during the incident.

Video footage of the incident from the Trans-Cab taxi's in-vehicle camera shows the cab shaking violently from a sudden impact. A person can be heard shouting in the background shortly after the collision.

ST understands that the passengers of the Trans-Cab taxi are father-and-son from Indonesia. It is believed that the 70-year-old was on his way for a check-up for his heart condition and intended to return to Indonesia after his medical appointment.

After the accident, the 42-year-old was seen exiting the taxi, before fainting. The 70-year-old was not seen getting out of the vehicle.

The accident is understood to have happened when one of the taxi drivers attempted to drop off a passenger at the hospital. Instead of stepping on the brake pedal, the driver accidentally stepped on the accelerator.

This caused the taxi to suddenly surge forward and hit a car that was parked on its right.

After hitting the car, the taxi continued to move forward and collided with a car that was entering the service road of the hospital, as well as another car that was exiting the service road.

It is understood that all those who were injured were attended to by staff from the accident and emergency department of Gleneagles Hospital.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.