SINGAPORE - Parts of the Seletar Expressway before the Upper Thomson Road exit were closed for more than two hours on Monday (April 18) morning, after a cement mixer truck crashed into a centre divider and overturned.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident. The cement mixer is understood to have skidded before crashing, spilling its load of cement onto the road and trapping the driver.
The accident resulted in a massive jam in both directions on the expressway as recovery efforts were ongoing, with congestion stretching to as far as the Tampines Expressway exit.
A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said it was alerted to the accident on the SLE towards the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) at 3.19am.
It dispatched a fire engine, a red rhino, an ambulance and four support vehicles to the scene.
"Upon SCDF's arrival, the truck had overturned and was lying on the driver's side. The impact of the accident resulted in the truck's front cabin to be badly crushed into a tree. As a result, the driver's lower body was trapped by the steering wheel and dashboard," a spokesman said.
The complex operation to extricate the driver took about 2½ hours and involved the use of hydraulic rescue equipment to cut through the truck's windscreen, and a crane.
The spokesman added that the driver sustained fractures to his hip and thigh and was conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in a stable condition.
The Land Transport Authority first tweeted about the expressway's closure at 7.48am, following up with another update at 8.06am.
The police said in a tweet at 10.38am that all lanes along the expressway - towards both the BKE and Central Expressway - had reopened. In an earlier update on its Facebook page, motorists were advised to avoid the affected stretch and use alternatives.
Facebook user Lee Saik Keen uploaded several photos on his Facebook account, which showed the cement mixer lying on its side. Spilled cement and fallen trees were also seen strewn on the road near the vehicle.
Another user, Moses Lima, said the vehicle's mixer had fallen off.
The vehicle was towed away at about 8.20am.
