An early morning accident saw a bus colliding into a railing near Tuas Checkpoint today, leaving one dead and 16 hospitalized.
The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) sounded an alert on Facebook at 5:20am today, warning all cross-country travelers to use Woodlands Checkpoint instead. ICA posted an update at 6:05am, stating that buses and lorries had to be diverted away from entering the Tuas Second Link Checkpoint due to the accident, which had effectively blocked the heavy vehicle lane. Heavy vehicles entering Singapore via the checkpoint were even redirected back to Malaysia.
The accident actually occurred much earlier, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed. Rescuers had responded to a call at 4:25am at 501 Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim near Tuas Checkpoint, where they found the wrecked bus. Hydraulic rescue tools were needed to rescue the bus driver, who was trapped in the twisted metal. A woman was pronounced dead at the scene, while 16 people were conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and National University Hospital.
A picture shared online showed a bus that had its whole front ripped off, while another image showed that the heavy vehicle lane at the checkpoint was completely barricaded.
The accident greatly affected the flow of morning rush hour traffic for cars and motorcycles, and it was only around 10am that ICA reopened Tuas Checkpoint for buses and lorries entering Singapore.
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