The driver of a private bus was trapped in his vehicle after it collided with a tipper truck in the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) tunnel yesterday evening.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force, which said it received a call for assistance at 6.17pm, had to free the man using hydraulic rescue tools. There were 28 casualties but no fatalities, it added.

The victims, who were all conscious, were taken to three different hospitals - 13 to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), nine to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and six to Changi General Hospital.

The accident happened on the fifth lane of the MCE in the direction of East Coast Parkway, after Marina Coastal Drive.

The Straits Times understands that the wreckage was cleared only after 9pm. The police are investigating.

Analyst Lim Boon Kai, 26, who was on his way home from work and passed the crash site at about 6.30pm, said the accident looked serious.

"The windscreen of the bus was smashed and there was glass everywhere on the ground. The passengers were standing in a line by the side of the expressway and some of them looked hurt," he said.

When The Straits Times visited the scene at about 8.30pm, two lanes were closed and traffic was heavy but not at a standstill.

At SGH last night, some of the bus passengers, believed to be tourists from China, appeared injured. One was in a wheelchair while another had an arm in a sling.

When approached, one of the women in the group said in Mandarin: "I'm not sure what happened... whether the vehicle in front suddenly slowed down."