SINGAPORE - An SMRT bendy bus was stuck on a field behind Block 195, Kim Keat Avenue, for about 10 hours since midnight on Thursday (Sept 29).

The wheels of the bus appeared to have sunk into the soft earth. Workers from a tow truck company, who were on the scene, tried unsuccessfully several times to reach the bus with tow vehicles.

Mr Seah Hui Chou, a manager from People's Vehicle Recovery Service, said that his team would attempt the "rougher" method of pulling the bus out of the earth, as opposed to trying to level the bus so that it can be driven out.

Workers attached a chain to a part of the rear end of the chassis, which has a risk of being damaged from the procedure. Engineers from SMRT gave the green light for this to be done.

The bus was finally removed from the mud around 10.10am. An SMRT staff member drove it out of the field onto the road, and it was towed away.

Mr Seah said that he and his men typically attend to accidents, and in 19 years, he has never encountered a situation like this one.

In response to a query from The Straits Times, SMRT vice-president for corporate information and communications Patrick Nathan said: "The bus captain was returning the vehicle to the bus depot early this morning when he took a wrong turn and attempted to make a U-turn on the field."

He added that SMRT was investigating the matter and apologised to residents for the noise from attempts to extricate the bus.

The Straits Times understands that the bus was off service when the mishap occurred. It had been plying route 67 and was headed to Kranji Depot.