In a shocking incident that took place on Rangoon Road, a minibus carrying 13 pupils narrowly missed hitting a cyclist before crashing into several vehicles.
The cyclist involved in the near-collision was identified as Brian Drayton, founder of Singapore Spokes, a cycling community.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Drayton recounted his harrowing experience. According to him, the minibus carrying the children veered off the road, crossed a grass embankment, collided with a tree, and struck four cars before finally coming to a halt.
During this chaotic ordeal, he noticed that there was no driver at the wheel.
Thanks to the quick actions of a passer-by and Mr. Drayton himself, the children were safely evacuated from the minibus. The passer-by attempted to help the children out through the driver’s door, while Mr. Drayton took matters into his own hands and broke the glass panel of the emergency exit at the back of the bus to open it.
Once all the children were out of harm’s way, Mr. Drayton contacted the bus company, SFX Transport Services, to report the incident.
Meanwhile, others on the scene contacted emergency services to ensure immediate medical attention for those involved.
According to the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the 70-year-old male bus driver was taken conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for medical treatment.
During the confusion and chaos of the accident, Mr. Drayton found it difficult to locate the bus driver. He assumed that the elderly man being attended to in the middle of the street was the driver, as he appeared to have been thrown out of the bus when it went out of control.
Singapore Spokes Facebook post
Yesterday I was almost run over by a school bus full of 13 primary kids careening over a grass embankment, gitting a tree scaffold, then back into the street, hitting four cars before stopping. I saw the kids bouncing out of their seats and NO Driver. I yelled to some bystanders…” There are kids on that Bus as it flew by.”
I threw my bike on the ground and ran over as I and another bystander started extracting the kids. The other person was trying to get the kids out of the driver’s door. I went to the back, punched the glass break panel, and opened the rear emergency exit. Once all the kids were out called teh bus company while others called emergency services. A couple of times in the bizarre situation, I looked for the driver and assumed the older man being attended to in the middle of the street was the driver since it looked like he had fallen out of the Bus. One hundred yards away when the Bus went out of control. teh ambulance came and tended to the man first, but I ran over and told them 13 kids were on the Bus. And they sent more ambulances. I demanded the bus company send another bus and call all the parents. All the people on the phone couldn’t grasp that there was a bus with no driver and 13 kids that crashed into a tree and four cars.
Finally, after thirty minutes, The police arrived clueless and once. Everyone pointed me out as the person who saw the incident barely talked to me. I offered a statement, and h they didn’t know what was happening. They told me to make a report online. There were four of them, and they would not. Talk to me. To my knowledge, they Did not walk the scene, and I saw no photos being taken. I eventually walked away feeling like no one cared about the kids. They should have all been evaluated by paramedics, and all the parents should take the kids to the doctor to get assessed, just in case.
Suppose anyone whose kids were on the Bus wanted to talk to me. Inbox me.