Truck driver trapped, pinned to seat after vehicle overturns along ECP

SINGAPORE: The driver of a tipper truck was taken to hospital on Thursday (Oct 31) after his vehicle overturned, trapping the 34-year-old in the cabin.

The accident happened along the East Coast Parkway (ECP) after the Tanah Merah Coast Road exit, according to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The authority received a call for assistance at about 4.20pm on Thursday. When emergency responders got to the scene, they saw the tipper truck lying on its side.

“Its cabin was crushed inwards and the driver was pinned in his seat,” said SCDF in a Facebook post.

Due to the complexity of the operation, rescuers from the SCDF’s Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) were deployed.

A truck-mounted crane was used to stabilise the tipper truck to minimise movement “so as not to aggravate the precarious condition of the trapped driver”, the force said.

“Within the confined space between the cabin and the rear tipper box, DART rescuers manoeuvred delicately, using a slew of hydraulic rescue equipment to cut their way through the badly crushed cabin to access the trapped driver,” the Facebook post read.

“Upon ultimately gaining access, DART rescuers then freed the trapped driver through the passenger side of the tipper truck.”

SCDF paramedics and an emergency medical team from Changi General Hospital were on site to support the rescue operation, which lasted about three and a half hours.

The driver was conscious and taken to Changi General Hospital with injuries to his lower limbs, said SCDF.

The police said they were alerted to the accident at about 4.15pm, adding that investigations are ongoing.

Video of the incident circulating online showed the vehicle lying in a ditch at a road divider, its wheels up in the air and its cabin almost completely upside down.

Emergency responders were at the scene and could be seen trying to free the man.