An elderly woman was killed yesterday evening after she was hit by a tipper truck while crossing the road in the Clarke Quay area.

It is believed she was hit while jaywalking near the junction of South Bridge Road and Upper Circular Road. The truck driver has been arrested by the police and investigations are ongoing.

It is understood that the driver is being investigated for causing death by a negligent act.

A police spokesman said the accident involved only the tipper truck and the elderly pedestrian.

"The 62-year-old female pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene, and the 48-year-old truck driver has been arrested in relation to the case," said the spokesman.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said they were alerted to the incident at 5.42pm.

It dispatched an ambulance to the scene, and the woman was pronounced dead by paramedics.

The woman's body was seen lying in the middle of the four-lane road. There is no pedestrian crossing at that junction. The nearest point to cross the road is an underpass at Elgin Bridge about 100m away.

Accidents involving elderly pedestrians are one area of concern for the Traffic Police.

Earlier this year, it had reported a rise in accidents involving pedestrians aged 60 and older.

There were 211 cases last year, up from 194 in 2014. Over a quarter of these accidents happened when the pedestrians were jaywalking.