SINGAPORE - A motorcycle was caught under a bus in an accident along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) on Wednesday morning (Dec 28) that saw four people taken to hospital.

The accident occurred at about 8am and involved Tower Transit Bus 97E and two motorcycles on the AYE towards the Marina Coastal Expressway, Shin Min Daily News reported on Wednesday.

One of the motorcycles is believed to have skidded, and the second motorcycle behind it swerved to avoid it but ended up toppling too, Lianhe Wanbao said in a report on Wednesday.

The female passenger on the second motorcycle slid under a bus in a different lane, but the bus managed to stop in time, Shin Min reported.

SCDF told The Straits Times on Wednesday that it was alerted to the accident around 8am and dispatched a fire engine, a Red Rhino and two ambulances.

"Upon SCDF arrival, no one was trapped," said the spokesman.

A woman in her 30s and three others were taken conscious to the National University Hospital.

A spokesman for Tower Transit told The Straits Times that the 30 passengers on board the bus were "safely transferred to the next 97e service and continued on their journey without too much of a delay".

"Thankfully, our Bus Captain Azaman was alert and able to respond quickly to the situation happening around him," said the spokesman.

He added that a review of closed-circuit camera television footage in the bus showed that if the bus captain had not reacted as quickly as he did, the situation could have been worse.

The accident caused a traffic jam of up to 4km that lasted more than two hours, Shin Min reported.

Police investigations are ongoing.