SINGAPORE - A 39-year-old man who used an umbrella to hit passers-by in Haig Road on Thursday morning (Dec 21) was arrested for the offence of public nuisance.

The police told The Straits Times that they were alerted to the case at about 9am. The man was subsequently arrested, with Lianhe Wanbao reporting that he attacked seven people.

Two women aged 48 and 61 were taken conscious to hospital. The 61-year-old woman suffered fractures on her fingers, while the 48-year-old woman had bruises on her forehead.

Wanbao reader Chen Jingfen, a 40-year-old housewife, said she had been in a car with her husband when they heard a woman in her 60s shouting for help.

"My husband immediately stopped his car by the road and we asked her to get in," she told Wanbao.

The woman told Ms Chen that she had been hit by a man wielding an umbrella. Ms Chen saw that he was still there, so she took photos of him.

However, the man spotted her, and he walked towards the car, using his umbrella to hit the vehicle.

"We were at a red traffic light and we were so scared," said Ms Chen. "Luckily the lights turned green soon after and we drove away."

When Wanbao arrived at the scene, police were investigating at Block 8, Haig Road.

A man at the scene, 60-year-old retiree Li Weiming, said he had been hit by the same man with an umbrella.

The Straits Times understands that the man appears to be of unsound mind.

Police investigations are ongoing.