SINGAPORE – A car driver and his three passengers were arrested after an accident with a bus on March 6 in Bukit Timah Road, just outside the Royalgreen condominium near Sixth Avenue.

Two schoolchildren on the bus, aged eight and nine, along with the car driver and his passengers, were taken to hospital after the crash.

The police said they were alerted to the accident at about 6am.

Officers pulled two passengers – a 32-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man – from the car, which caught fire on impact, to safety. There was also a 22-year-old male passenger.

All three were arrested for traffic-related offences. The driver, a 26-year-old man, was arrested for failing to provide a breath specimen, said the police.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), which said it was alerted to the incident at 6.20am, extinguished the fire using a water jet.

Six people were taken to National University Hospital, it added.

All were conscious.

One other person was assessed but declined to be taken to hospital.

Police investigations are ongoing.

The bus was ferrying four pupils of Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), or ACS (Junior), at the time of the collision.

In response to queries, ACS (Junior) principal Cheryl Chee said that two of the pupils were taken home by their parents after being assessed by paramedics at the scene, while the other two were admitted to hospital with minor injuries.

They have since been discharged.

In a letter sent to parents on the same day at around 3.10pm, Ms Chee said the affected pupils and the bus driver have been attended to and are “currently all well and resting at home”.

“Our teachers will continue to monitor their well-being and provide them with the necessary support.”

She added that the school is aware of videos related to the accident circulating online and urged parents to avoid any speculation.

Several videos of the accident’s aftermath shared in a Telegram group show a badly damaged bus with its two front wheels dislodged. In one video, a burning car is seen near the crash site. 

School supplies such as files, pieces of paper and lunch boxes are seen strewn across the road. At least two SCDF ambulances can also be seen.

When The Straits Times arrived at the crash scene at around 9am, an Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System recovery vehicle, eight police cars and at least four Traffic Police motorcycles were there.

A smashed and charred car was nearby, and a strong burnt smell was in the air.

Debris, including a vehicle headlight, a car wheel and a shoe, was also scattered around the accident site. 

The accident affected three of the four lanes of the road. A lamp post was lying across two of the lanes.

The area was cordoned off until the Sixth Avenue junction, about 100m from the bus and burnt car. The cordon was lifted at 11.30am.

The burnt vehicle and bus were towed away at 12.50pm and 1.10pm, respectively.

In a Facebook post at around 9am, SBS Transit announced that bus services 74, 151, 154, 156, 157, 170, 174 and 852 were delayed along Bukit Timah Road towards Clementi Road because of an accident.

Mr Amin Ismail, 26, a delivery rider for Indian Curry House, which is around 200m from the scene, said he rode past the scene of the accident at 7.15am.

“By the time I was there, there was a huge jam and many cars were sounding their horns. A cordon had already been set up and police officers were trying to direct traffic,” he said.

A Royalgreen resident, who wanted to be known only as Madam Khoo, said she was concerned about the traffic in the area.

“Some vehicles go very fast, and there are even some cars that would stop along Anamalai Avenue (where the condo is) to drop people off or make a quick stop at the bank.”

The housewife, who is in her 50s, added: “There are quite a number of international schools in this area, so it can be quite dangerous.”

Ms Nanthini, 33, a security guard at Royalgreen who goes by one name, said she arrived for her shift at around 8.30am and was stuck in the traffic jam. A security guard for about a year, she said: “It’s my first time seeing such a big accident here. During peak hours, the traffic runs smoothly, so some cars will drive quite fast.”

There have been at least two fatal accidents involving children in 2024.

On Jan 23, a four-year-old girl was killed when a car knocked her down in River Valley while she was walking home after pre-school with her two-year-old sister and their maid.

A week later, a 12-year-old girl died after she was hit by a van in Taman Jurong, just minutes away from two schools.

In 2023, 136 people were killed in traffic accidents, a 25.9 per cent jump from the 108 deaths in 2022, according to the latest Traffic Police figures.