SINGAPORE — A crawler crane toppled on its side and hit a van at Punggol on Tuesday afternoon (April 9), leaving behind a crushed heap of metal, stopping traffic for several hours and injuring the van driver.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the person was taken to Sengkang General Hospital after it was alerted to the accident at the junction of Punggol Road and Compassvale Street at about 4.55pm.

The police said the injured person was a 28-year-old male driver of the van.

The 49-year-old male crane operator was subsequently arrested for alleged negligent conduct with respect to any machinery, said the police.

The police added that the van was stationary at the time and the incident had occurred while the crane operator was maneuvering the crane up a trailer.

When TODAY reached the scene at around 8pm, the boom of a crane could be seen pinning a crumpled wreck of a white van in the middle lane of a road near a construction site.

A low-loader trailer, typically used to transport mobile cranes and other tracked construction vehicles, was also parked nearby.

While the tip of the crane’s boom appeared to have crushed most parts of the van, it appeared to have missed the driver side of the minibus.

The toppled machinery, which was labelled SCC800TB on the side, is a telescoping boom crawler crane that is capable of lifting loads of up to 80 tonnes and has a maximum boom length of 47m, according to the manufacturer’s website.

Several construction workers, police officers as well as curious onlookers were also seen at the accident site.

The crane was operating at a PUB worksite where a new public sewer is under construction, the national water agency said in a statement to the media on Tuesday night.

PUB added that the agency, and its contractor Building Construction Co, will assist the police and the Ministry of Manpower with their investigations into the incident.

According to an online report by The Straits Times, a representative from Building Construction Co said the crane is owned by construction equipment firm Ten-League.

The accident also affected traffic, with the Land Transport Authority stating on X, formerly known as Twitter, at around 6pm that Punggol Road after Sengkang East Way is closed due to an accident.

The road headed in the other direction remained open.

The police said that an investigation is ongoing.

TODAY has also reached out to Ten-League for comment.