Car driver and 3 others arrested after Bukit Timah accident involving school bus; 2 children taken to hospital

SINGAPORE — A car driver and his three passengers were arrested on Wednesday (March 6) after a major accident along Bukit Timah Road that also involved a school bus. 

Two children were among the six people taken to hospital.

The police said they were alerted to the incident at about 6am.

The car caught fire when it crashed, the police said, adding that its officers pulled two passengers — a 27-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman — to safety. 

"A 26-year-old male car driver was arrested for failing to provide (a) breath specimen," the police said. 

Another man in the car, aged 22, was arrested for traffic-related offences along with the other two passengers.

The four people in the car were taken to hospital. The other two were children from the school bus, aged eight and nine. Police said all of them were conscious.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Photos and videos of the incident, which occurred just after Sixth Avenue, showed the car in flames near a fallen lamp-post.

The white school bus was missing both its front wheels. The wheels, still connected to the vehicle's axle, were seen a short distance away.

The bus' windscreen was smashed and debris, including what appeared to be books, was strewn across the road.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at about 6.20am. 

Six people were taken to the National University Hospital, said SCDF, adding that another person with minor injuries did not want to be taken to hospital.

'BURNT BEYOND RECOGNITION'

An eyewitness who wanted to be known as Mr Ang told CNA that he heard an "extremely thunderous sound" at about 6.05am from his home at Royalgreen condominium. 

It was "like huge metal crashing into the ground", he said, adding that the accident happened along Bukit Timah Road near a U-turn after Anamalai Avenue. 

"I peered out of the balcony and realised the accident was very serious. I saw several primary school students ushered out of the school bus in the aftermath too," the retiree recounted. He said the students appeared to be all boys.

Several explosions were heard after the car caught fire and "a lamp-post was wrecked", he said, adding that traffic was still congested at about 10.45am. 

"One car was burnt beyond recognition."

Another eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said all five lanes were closed except one when he drove past the scene at about 8.45am. He described seeing a "burnt-out car".

There was a heavy police presence at the scene when CNA arrived at about 10.20am. 

A headlight was spotted several metres away from the charred car, which was towed away at about 12.45pm. 

Workers were preparing to tow the bus at about 1pm. There was a slight jam at the time, with only one lane accessible for an approximately 100m stretch. 

The accident disrupted peak-hour traffic. It caused a traffic tailback that stretched several kilometres to Kheam Hock Road, according to the Land Transport Authority which alerted motorists to the congestion in a post on X at about 8.45am. 

SBS Transit said in a Facebook post at about 9am that bus services 74, 151, 154, 156, 157, 170, 174 and 852 were delayed along Bukit Timah Road (towards Clementi Road) due to an accident.

Additional reporting by Rachel Lim.