Taxi on fire explodes within KPE tunnel; fire extinguished by members of public

SINGAPORE – A taxi travelling through the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) tunnel towards Tampines Expressway (TPE) caught fire and exploded during the evening rush hour on Tuesday (Aug 29).

According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), they were alerted to the fire, which involved the engine compartment of a Trans-Cab taxi, at 7pm.

The accident was subsequently reported by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on their Twitter feed, informing motorists to avoid lane four at 7.20pm

SCDF later confirmed at around 7.50pm on their Facebook page the fire had been extinguished. 

It added that two members of the public had extinguished the fire using a hose reel prior to their arrival.

While no injuries were reported by the SCDF, an emergency announcement was activated by the LTA within the tunnel, directing motorists to "drive out of the tunnel now via the nearest exit". 

The announcement added: "If unable, turn off your engine and walk to the nearest emergency exit."

At 8.04pm, LTA tweeted that only the first lane of the expressway was open to traffic. The second lane was later open to motorists at 9.26pm.

Video footage of the accident has emerged, showing a stationary red Trans-Cab taxi with its bonnet on fire within the TPE. Within moments of the video being shot, an explosion occurred.

There were no vehicles around the immediate vicinity of the taxi at the point the explosion occurred.

When contacted by TODAY, a spokesperson for Trans-Cab said that it was not immediately clear how the accident ocurred, or what led to the taxi catching fire and subsequently exploding. 

It added that investigations are ongoing.

TODAY understands that a relief driver was behind the steering wheel at the time the accident happened. 

Tuesday's accident makes it the fourth such accident involving the transport company since the start of the year. 

Earlier in the year on April 30, a Trans-Cab taxi caught fire and exploded near Buona Vista MRT station after being involved in an accident. Less than a month later, on May 22, another Trans-Cab taxi caught fire along Marymount Road near the junction of Sin Ming Avenue. In both these cases, the vehicle models are the Toyota Wish, which were powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The last reported accident involving a Trans-Cab taxi that caught fire occurred on June 21, along Moulmein Road near the slip road for the Central Expressway towards the Seletar Expressway.