ALL Mr Mohammad Pendek, 55, wanted was a five-minute break to go to the restroom.

When the truck driver returned, his truck had slid down the road and hit a van, a tree and the garden wall of two houses. He said: "I had switched the engine off and pulled the hand brake up before I left. I don't really know how it happened."

The incident took place at 1.55pm yesterday on Jalan Telang, a sloping lane off Upper Thomson Road. Police investigations are ongoing.

In the residential street where three terraced units are being built, trucks are a common sight.

The truck driver, who works for Seoul Builder, was supposed to transport earth away from the site. The truck slid a distance of about five houses.

Mr Eric Loh, 46, a businessman whose garden wall sustained cracks, said the affected residents were unsure of how to obtain compensation. "What happened today only damaged property, not lives, and that is the most important thing," he added.

SUE-ANN TAN