1 dead, 37 taken to hospital following fatal bus crash near Joo Koon

SINGAPORE — A bus driver died on Friday (April 1) morning after an accident involving two private buses in Joo Koon, while 37 other people were taken to hospital.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the police said that they were alerted to the accident at the junction of First Lok Yang Road and Lok Yang Way — a short distance from Joo Koon MRT Station — at 6.30am on Friday.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that the driver was found trapped in the seat of the bus when they arrived at the scene.

“SCDF freed the person using hydraulic rescue equipment and the person was pronounced dead at the scene by an SCDF paramedic.”

SCDF added that a total of 37 people were taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and National University Hospital following the accident.

TODAY has reached out to the police for more information on the deceased as well as the state of the people taken to the hospital.

In photos that were posted on the "Singapore Bus Drivers Community" Facebook group, two private buses were seen involved in the accident with one of them overturned on its side and its windscreen damaged.  

The other bus appeared to have skidded off the road onto a roadside drain.

Several members of the public were also seen observing the accident from a distance as SCDF officers and paramedics worked on the scene.

Police investigations are ongoing.