A loud crash startled Madam Chua as she was cleaning the Food Loft coffee shop in Block 431 Clementi Avenue 3 yesterday at about 11am.

She saw that a taxi had somehow landed on its roof in the middle of the road across from the coffee shop where she works, and smoke was rising from it.

A white car with a dented rear had stopped a few metres in front of the taxi.

The 55-year-old, who declined to give her full name, told The Straits Times in Mandarin: "I was afraid the taxi would burst into flames."

She added: "I saw the taxi driver climbing out of the car, and the driver of the white car helping him."

The police and an ambulance arrived shortly after, she said.

Mr Steve Wen, 48, who owns the chicken rice stall at the same coffee shop, said he wanted to help the taxi driver but saw a few passers-by rushing over to the site. He said in Mandarin: "I was also concerned that there were passengers in the taxi."

The male driver was the only occupant in the taxi. Police said the 46-year-old was conscious when taken to the hospital.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the accident at 11.30am, and one person was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

Police investigations are ongoing.