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

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): One person was killed and 16 were taken to hospital after a bus accident occurred at Tuas Checkpoint at 4.21am on Tuesday (Feb 26).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it responded to a call for assistance at 4.25am to the accident site where a bus had collided onto the railings.

“A body was found and there were 16 other casualties conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and National University Hospital,” said SCDF.

The Straits Times understands that the driver was trapped in the bus upon SCDF’s arrival and had to be rescued. The driver was the only one who was trapped.

The Immigration & Checkpoint Authority (ICA) said in a statement at 6.05am that the accident was blocking the heavy vehicle lane, and buses and lorries coming from Malaysia towards Singapore were unable to enter the checkpoint at arrival, and these vehicles were diverted back to Malaysia.

The police and the SCDF were at the scene, said ICA.

ICA 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.

The heavy vehicle lane remains closed, while arrival traffic remains heavy due to morning peak period.

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 Straits Times/Asia News Network