Driver arrested after lorry crashes into trees, HDB block

A 32-year-old lorry driver who mowed down two trees in front of a Housing Board block in Jurong just after midnight yesterday was arrested for drink driving and careless driving.

After crashing into the trees, the lorry rammed into the four-storey block.

The police told The Straits Times they were alerted at 12.29am to the incident at Block 152 Yung Ho Road.

The lorry driver was taken conscious to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and was subsequently arrested for drink driving and careless driving, the police said.

Shin Min Daily News reported that the crash shattered the lorry's windscreen and flower pots were smashed in the vicinity.

A resident, who wanted to be known as Ms Atiqah K., lives with her mother on the second-floor unit right above where the lorry had crashed into the building.

The 32-year-old, who works in administration, told ST that many heavy vehicles ply Corporation Road next to her block.

"I came home around 11.30pm and I was in my room. Around 12.30am, it was raining and I heard the lorry outside.

"There was a braking sound but it sounded different, like the driver was trying to avoid something. I heard tyres skidding."

She heard a bang and when she came out to have a look, she saw that the vehicle was right under her unit and a tree had been upended.

Another resident in the block, Mr Shi Zhong Qian, 75, told ST he saw a crowd gathered near the block while he was cycling home from work, shortly after midnight.

Mr Shi, who works as a cleaner at a food centre in Boon Lay, said in Mandarin: "The lorry had crashed into two trees, which fell on the parapet (of the first floor). I saw the driver near the ambulance. His head was bleeding.

"This area is on my route home. If I had come home a little earlier, I might have been hit."

In another incident yesterday morning, a 76-year-old male driver crashed his car into a temporary office at the void deck of an HDB block in Redhill.

In response to queries, the police said they were alerted to an accident involving two cars and a bicycle along the service road of Block 1 Delta Avenue. The driver was conscious when taken to Singapore General Hospital.

The driver's son told Shin Min that his father drives regularly and he is unsure how he lost control of the car. The son added that the car was bought this year.

Shin Min also reported that the temporary office was not in use at the time of the accident.