1 killed, 16 injured in Tuas Checkpoint bus accident; heavy vehicle lane into Singapore closed

SINGAPORE - One person was killed and 16 were injured after a bus collided into railings at Tuas Checkpoint early Tuesday morning (Feb 26).

The victim is a 35-year-old female bus passenger and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, said the Immigration & Checkpoint Authority (ICA).

The accident site blocked the heavy vehicle lane from about 4.20am, causing traffic to pile up as buses and lorries coming from Malaysia towards Singapore were unable to enter the checkpoint. The ICA subsequently closed the lane and heavy vehicles were diverted back to Malaysia.

The lane was reopened at about 10am.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it responded to a call for assistance at 4.25am. When its officers arrived at the accident scene in Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, they saw a bus against the side railing of the flyover.

"The bus driver was trapped in his seat and had to be rescued by SCDF using hydraulic rescue equipment," it said.

Its officers also found two women at the foot of the flyover. One of the women had sustained serious injuries and the other was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic.

The bus driver and 11 passengers were taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and National University Hospital. There were four other passengers assessed with minor injuries and they refused to be taken the hospital.

Mr Dia Abdullah, 28, who was heading to Singapore from Malaysia for work on Tuesday morning, told The Straits Times that it took him 1.5 hours to clear the checkpoint due to the traffic jam. It would usually take about 30 minutes at 5.30am, he said.

The operations executive said: "The traffic is usually clear for cars at that timing but we were not able to move as they stopped us and were allowing buses and lorries to make a U-turn back to Malaysia."

As he passed through the checkpoint, he saw that they had barricaded the heavy vehicle lane and there were no vehicles in the lane.

The police and the SCDF were at the scene, said ICA in a statement on Facebook at 5.20am. It advised motorists to use Woodlands Checkpoint for both arrival and departure instead.

At 6.55am, ICA said in a Facebook post that traffic for arriving and departing cars and motorcycles at Tuas Checkpoint had returned to normal.

An update on ICA's Facebook page at 10am said that the heavy vehicle lane had been reopened, while arrival traffic remained heavy due to morning peak period.

Police are investigating the incident.

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