A VAN driver in his 50s died after his vehicle collided with a trailer carrying about 50 steel pipes.

Some of the metal pipes came loose, smashed the van's windscreen and hit the driver, who had multiple fractures on his face, according to Chinese evening paper Shin Min Daily News.

The incident happened on Monday at 12.10pm on the Kranji Expressway, near the Sungei Tengah exit. The van belonged to a food caterer, reported Shin Min.

The crash mangled the front of the van. Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers had to extricate the driver from the vehicle.

Said an SCDF spokesman: "The man was trapped in the driver's seat and rescue tools were used to release him." The spokesman added that the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

JALELAH ABU BAKER