'I saw no driver': Man evacuates children from bus crash in Rangoon Road

SINGAPORE - A minibus reportedly carrying 13 pupils nearly ran over a cyclist before crashing into several vehicles in Rangoon Road on Wednesday (July 26).

Citizen journalism website Stomp identified the cyclist as cycling community Singapore Spokes founder Brian Drayton, who said in a Facebook post on Thursday that the bus carrying 13 children had careened over a grass embankment, hit a tree and four cars before coming to a stop.

He said: "I could see the kids bouncing out of their seats and saw no driver."

With the help of a passer-by, Mr Drayton said he evacuated the children from the minibus.

The passer-by tried to get the children out from the driver door, while Mr Drayton punched the glass panel of the emergency exit at the back of the bus and opened the emergency exit, he said.

Once all the children were out of the bus, the cyclist called the bus company - SFX Transport Services - while others contacted emergency services, he added.

Responding to media queries, the police said on Saturday that they were alerted to the accident involving a car, a van, a lorry and a minibus at 206 Rangoon Road at about 3.45pm.

A 70-year-old male bus driver was taken conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, according to the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Mr Drayton said: "A couple (of) times in the bizarre situation, I looked for the driver and assumed that the old man being attended to in the middle of the street was the driver since it looked like he fell out of the bus, 100 yards (91m) away when the bus went out of control."

He said the parents of the children on the bus could contact him via the Singapore Spokes Facebook page.

Speaking to Chinese-language media outlet Shin Min Daily News, a durian shop worker who wanted to be known only as Ms Ang, 57, said she rushed to the scene after hearing bangs and shouts.

"Once we saw the accident, we immediately started rescuing people, and took the children into the shop so that they could rest and recover," she said.

The police said investigations are ongoing.

The Straits Times has contacted Mr Drayton and SFX Transport Services with queries.

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