Driver taken to hospital after truck overturns, catches fire; witness hears explosion, helps douse flames

SINGAPORE — A 68-year-old driver was taken hospital on Friday (April 1) afternoon after his prime mover overturned and caught fire along West Coast Highway towards Pasir Panjang, sending large plumes of black smoke into the sky.

A witness to the incident, who tried to extinguish the fire before firefighters arrived, told TODAY that he heard an explosion from the truck, which appeared to cause a lamp post to fall across the highway, blocking traffic.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the police said on Friday that they were alerted to an accident at about 11.50am involving a prime mover which "self-skidded" along West Coast Highway.

The police added that the male driver was conscious when taken to the hospital. Investigations are ongoing.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a separate statement on Friday that it had taken the person to Singapore General Hospital.

SCDF had been alerted to the burning truck at around 11.50am and had extinguished the fire using a water jet. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The eyewitness, Mr Abdul Farhan, had spotted the overturned truck that was starting to catch fire while driving down West Coast highway towards Pasir Panjang and stopped to help.

Mr Farhan, aged in his 30s, the general manager of a ship inspection company, told TODAY that he saw the fire from the truck spreading to nearby trees and bushes, and decided he had to stop its spread before the fire worsened.

The driver, who appeared to be injured, was sitting by the road and there was no one else in the truck, he added.

Mr Farhan said he then approached a nearby lorry that was watering plants for help to stop the truck fire from spreading further but the worker in the lorry was reluctant to get involved in the incident.

Traffic had begun to back up by then, Mr Farhan said, adding that some cars then tried to drive past the fire before something on the truck exploded, causing a street side lamp to fall and blockade the road.

He managed to persuade the worker in the lorry to lend him his lorry’s water hose, which he used to stop the fire from spreading further while waiting for the authorities to arrive.

SCDF arrived about 10 or 15 minutes later and put out the fire and cleared the way for traffic, said Mr Farhan.