An elderly passenger remained in critical condition today after losing his balance and falling on a bus in Bugis.
The unnamed man was knocked to the floor and seriously injured yesterday when the driver hit the emergency brake to avoid a car on the road, according to his daughter and public transport provider SBS Transit. He suffered multiple injuries including cerebral hemorrhaging, and was transferred to the ICU today, Siah Hwan Ling, his daughter said online, where she complained about being poorly informed about what happened and seemed bewildered at how her father could have sustained such serious injuries.
“We were told that he has bleeding in the brain. His rib cage has fractured and he has many stitches on his right eyebrow,” she wrote, appealing for eyewitnesses to step forward.
Her father was riding the bus service 175 home from a kidney dialysis center at Upper Boon Keng Road and was about to alight near the Bugis Cube mall when he fell, Siah said. She said she considered the possibility he had been injured prior to boarding the bus.
“I tried to also call [the] dialysis center to find out if he has [fallen] down in [the] dialysis center, they said no,” she said. “He was still very independent and still wave goodbye to the nurses and the patients when he was leaving.”
SBS Transit said it contacted the family twice since obtaining their contact details last night. A police investigation is underway, it said.
“We were unable to contact Mr Siah’s family earlier as we did not have their contact details. We were able to only contact them late last night after we received an online feedback alert at 10.45pm,” spokesperson Tammy Tan said, noting that they remain in “close communication.”
Siah had not responded to messages seeking comment as of publication time.
Based on surveillance footage, Tan added that the bus driver was traveling normally when a car suddenly cut into its lane and “brushed against its front.”
“To avoid an accident, the Bus Captain immediately applied the emergency brakes,” Tan said. As it happened, the victim, who was seated at the front was on his legs and getting ready to alight. He lost his footing when the driver hit the brakes, and ended up being “thrown forward,” she added. The driver then stopped the bus and the ambulance was called.
The man is being treated at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, according to his daughter. SBS Transit said it has shared CCTV footage with the Traffic Police.
Photos shared by Siah showed her father lying unconscious in a hospital bed, wearing a neck brace with tubes running into his nose. There were also stitches near his right eyebrow. Siah said that his fractured ribs were affecting his lung function.
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