The crane had been removed from the site (left) at around 9am on April 10. This came after the crane toppled onto road at the junction of Compassvale Street and Punggol Road the day before. - ST
SINGAPORE: The crane that fell and crushed a van in Sengkang on Tuesday (April 9) has been removed from Punggol Road and traffic resumed at around noon the day after, said residents.
Information technology engineer, Anant Pradhan, 47, a Sengkang resident, said the crane was still on the road at 1am on April 10, but it was gone when he went to the site at around 9am.
He said: “The workers told me they were repairing the road as there was oil spillage from the accident.”
A video he took at around 9.30am showed workers re-paving the road.
When The Straits Times arrived at 12.15pm, works on the four-lane road were ongoing.
Another Sengkang resident, Vince Huang, 55, a businessman in the recruitment industry, said traffic had resumed when he drove past the site at around noon on April 10.
ST had reported earlier that eyewitnesses saw the van’s driver jump out of his vehicle seconds before the crane from a nearby construction site fell on it and left it in a crumpled mess.
The police had said the crane toppled when it was being manoeuvred up a trailer.
The van driver, a 28-year-old man, was injured but conscious when taken to Sengkang General Hospital. No one else was in the van.
The crane operator, a 49-year-old man, was arrested for negligent conduct.
A driver, who was behind the van when the accident happened and gave his name only as Mamz, had said the van was used to ferry children to school. And the driver had just dropped a child off before the accident.
All four lanes were blocked off as the fallen crane lay on its side near the junction of Compassvale Street, with its boom stretching across the width of the road and resting on the crushed van.
A sign on the hoardings at the construction site indicated it is a project by national water agency PUB, operated by construction firm Building Construction Co.
A PUB spokeswoman said a public sewer is under construction at the site of the accident. She added the contractor Building Construction Co will be helping the police and the Ministry of Manpower with investigations. - The Straits Times/ANN
