INJURED AND ANGRY

MOST of them were about to fall asleep on the tour bus.

IN PAIN: Rescue workers fitting a neck brace on a man, believed to be the bus driver.

After dinner at a shopping mall near Ulu Tiram at about 10.30pm on Friday, the 26 passengers from Singaporewere headed to Cameron Highlands for a weekend getaway.

The swaying of the bus and the jolts kept some awake. Some were uneasy as they felt the driver was going too fast.

Before they could tell him to slow down, their worst fears came true.

The bus hit the back of a trailer, seriously injuring six passengers who had to be warded in hospital.

The driver was also warded with serious injuries, including broken legs and face and chest wounds.

Most of the other passengers and a male tour guide, believed to be Malaysian, suffered minor injuries and received outpatient treatment.

Amid the chaos and confusion, anger overcame some of the victims of the crash, which happened on the North-South highway near Tangkak, Johor.

Instead of helping the injured driver, who was trapped in his cabin, they scolded him, accusing him of speeding.

They wanted him to 'take responsibility' for causing the accident, Lianhe Wanbao reported.

With blood streaming from his face and groaning in pain, all he could do was take the verbal abuse in silence.

Rescue workers later freed him and other passengers who were trapped in the front of the bus.

Moments before the collision, one passenger had noticed the driver trying to overtake a lorry that was behind the trailer.

Ms Teo Ru Yin, 23, who returned to Singapore yesterday, told The New Paper on Sunday: 'I was sitting at the rear of the bus and was almost asleep when I heard a loud crash.

'When I opened my eyes, I realised I had been thrown forward onto the floor.'

Ms Teo and most of her colleagues from DKSH Technology, a marketing and distribution services provider, were injured.

She broke a tooth and bruised her limbs.

Finding her way out of the bus was difficult in the dark.

Personal belongings littered the cabin floor.

Visibly shaken

Some colleagues were visibly shaken as they waited for help.

IN A DAZE: Passengers being helped out of the wrecked bus by rescue workers. Many rested by the roadside, while the seriously injured were rushed to hospital. (Above) The bus driver had to be extricated from his seat, but the trailer driver escaped unhurt. --PICTURES: GUANGMING DAILY

Broken passenger seats, shattered glass and corn, which the trailer had been transporting, were strewn on the road.

Added Ms Teo, who has been with the company for three years: 'I don't wish to remember what happened because it's painful and sad.'

The tour group had started on a happy note when they left the company premises at Boon Leat Terrace in Pasir Panjang.

The three-day tour was organised by a colleague. The passengers included family members.

The seriously injured were taken to the Malacca General Hospital, where it is believed that a woman, 48, remains in a coma.

Some of them were transferred to Singapore's Alexandra Hospital yesterday.

One woman in her 30s fractured both legs.

As news spread among family members and colleagues of those on the bus, one of them waited with worry and concern.

Madam Faridah Ahmad, 46, learned about the accident when she got an SMS from Ms Teo yesterday morning.

'The impression I got was that the accident was a minor one,' she said.

'But when I saw news footage which showed the front of the bus smashed, and also my friend Ru Yin bleeding from the mouth, I started to worry more.'

Madam Faridah made frantic calls to the others in the group.

As the injured had been taken away in different ambulances, nobody was sure of the condition of others.

Added Madam Faridah: 'I began to think of the worst when nobody answered their handphones.

'But later, most of them returned my calls one by one. My husband said to me that I could have been one of those injured if I had not turned down the invitation to go on the trip.'

Seen swaying

The trailer driver, who was unhurt, was reported in Lianhe Wanbao as saying he had seen from his rear view mirrors that the bus was swaying.

The bus accelerated and moved into the right lane to overtake the lorry.

When the bus tried to move back into the left lane, it collided into the rear of the trailer, he said, adding that he felt a 'strong impact'.

Last evening, Madam Faridah said some colleagues had returned home.

She added: 'I hope everybody will recover. About a year ago, we lost two colleagues in a bus accident at Bukit Batok. Those painful memories are still fresh.'

---

S'PORE VICTIMS IN N-S HIGHWAY CRASHES

1

Dec 2008

Singaporean Dominic Chan crashed his bike into an overturned lorry. As the man lay dying along the road shoulder, some onlookers took photographs.

He died before the ambulance arrived.

2

Dec 2008

Singapore-based American business executive Rick Smith, 54, died on the spot when his Harley-Davidson collided with a 14-wheeler trailer near Yong Peng in Johor.

3

Dec 2008

Ten people were killed and 18 injured when the Singapore-bound bus they were in crashed into a tree.

One of them was a S'pore PR, a 26-year-old medical student from Hong Kong working at Changi General Hospital.

4

Jan 2009

S'pore PR Ng Cheong Boon, 45, was driving when a lorry suddenly swerved and hit his car.

The crash killed his wife and 14-year-old son. His two daughters, 7 and 10 and another son, 16, were injured.

5

Jan 2009

A 24-year-old S'pore biker died while journeying up to Malacca.

Mr Mohamad Idzwan Abdul Aziz reportedly lost control of his motorcycle as he was trying to overtake another vehicle.

The Best Gift to your Loved Ones is Yourself

Left in agony at roadside

S'pore siblings suffer shattered knees, fractured thigh after biker gang robs them in JB

LATE on Thursday night, the foursome went to Johor Baru to get their motorcycles serviced.

In the early hours of Friday, they became victims of an audacious attack by armed robbers. Two of them were seriously hurt as they were flung off their bikes.

Three siblings who gave their names only as Ms Suziyana, Mr Rafly and Ms Riana, and Ms Riana's boyfriend, Mr Wandi, rode two Yamaha motorcycles across the Causeway to a workshop just 15 minutes from the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Ms Riana told The New Paper on Sunday that this was something the two men did two or three times a month.

When the bikes were ready, around 4.40am, the group headed back to Singapore.
Ms Suziyana, 25, and Mr Rafly, 24, on one motorbike, were behind Ms Riana, 27, and Mr Wandi, 27, on the other.

Ms Riana said: 'Five minutes after we set off, two other motorbikes came up on the right of Rafly's bike and revved their engines. One of the bikes had two people on it, and the other had one.

'I asked my boyfriend: 'What's that noise? How come their motorbikes are so loud?' He replied: 'Nothing much, it's just the motorbikes'.'

Unknown to them, Ms Suziyana and Mr Rafly, who were travelling behind them, were shouting for help. But the other two could not hear their cries above the loud engine noise.

Armed with parang

It turned out that the three strangers on the motorbikes were robbers.

Ms Riana said: 'One of the robbers had a parang. He snatched Suziyana's handbag and kicked their motorbike.

'The handbag contained Suziyana and Rafly's passports and a purse with RM100 ($40) and $50.'
After grabbing the bag, the robbers kicked their victims' bike.

The two siblings were thrown off immediately.

After hitting the centre road divider, they landed in the extreme right lane of the three-lane road while their bike skidded to the left lane.

The robbers then sped past Ms Riana and Mr Wandi.

It was only when she heard a loud crash that Ms Riana turned around.

She was stunned to see her younger siblings lying on the road. They immediately stopped their bike and ran over to help.

A gory sight greeted Ms Riana and her boyfriend.

'Both my brother's kneecaps were broken and there was a bone sticking out of my sister's left thigh,' Ms Riana said.

'My brother was unconscious at first, but he later opened his eyes and asked us what happened. He couldn't even remember what we were doing in JB.

'And my sister was shouting and crying for us to catch the robbers.'

Ms Riana said she tried to stop cars that drove past them, but most did not stop to help.

Eventually, a female Malaysian taxi driver stopped. She radioed for taxis in the vicinity to help, Ms Riana said.

The cabby called for an ambulance.

They also made a police report.

But, Ms Riana claimed, the ambulance arrived only 11/2 hours later. Mr Rafly and Ms Suziyana were writhing in pain all the while.

They were taken to the Sultanah Aminah hospital.

Ms Riana, fed up with the long wait, then decided to transfer her siblings to the National University Hospital. She said she called for two private ambulances to take them back to Singapore.

Because they had made a police report, Ms Riana said her siblings were allowed through the checkpoint even though they did not have their passports.

Yesterday, Mr Rafly and Ms Suziyana underwent operations.

When The New Paper on Sunday visited Ms Suziyana, a housewife, at NUH, she looked tired and her left thigh was heavily bandaged. Mr Rafly, a KFC deliveryman, was still being operated on.
Recounting her ordeal, Ms Suziyana said: 'It was very scary. I still can't believe it. It was the first time I went to JB on a motorbike.'

'Usually I take a taxi or a bus. I've heard stories of robberies in JB, but I never thought it would happen to me.'

Ms Riana said the incident was a wake-up call.

'After this, I've warned my brother never to go back to JB again, and never to ride a motorbike ever again.'

- The reporter is a newsroom intern

1. Robbers draw up to Mr Rafly's bike, which was trailing his sister Riana's bike. Armed with Parang, one of them snatched Ms Suziyana's handbag and kicked the siblings off the motorbike.

2. Alerted by a loud crash, Ms Riana and her boyfriend were stunned to see her younger siblings lying on the road, injured and in a daze. Many passing cars did not stop to help until a taxi driver called for an ambulance.

NSF dies in Land Rover accident

A FULL-TIME National Serviceman (NSF) died on Friday in an accident.

At about 11.30am, Second Lieutenant (2LT) Chan Wei Kit Nicholas, a Motor Transport Officer, was taking delivery of a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Land Rover which had been sent to Seletar Camp for servicing.

He was inspecting the vehicle when it rolled backwards and hit him. He was discovered pinned under the vehicle.

A recovery vehicle was activated at about noon and lifted the Land Rover off him at 12.30pm.

A medical team, comprising an SAF doctor and two medics from the Seletar Medical Centre, attempted to resuscitate 2LT Chan immediately.

He was sent to Changi General Hospital at about 12.35pm.

En route, the SAF doctor and medics continued attempts to resuscitate him. 2LT Chan was pronounced dead at 1.07pm at the hospital.

The Ministry of Defence and the SAF have extended their deepest condolences to 2LT Chan's family, and the ministry will assist them in their time of grief. It is investigating the incident.

Lorry overturns after crashing into barrier

It collides with van before hitting metal fence

SHE was driving along Braddell Road when she heard a bang at the back of the van.

A WRECK: The lorry overturns and lands on its side on the centre divider. Its driver was later taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. TNP PICTURES: KUA CHEE SIONG

Madam Ho See Luan, 55, a vegetable supplier, said: 'Then the van shook violently. I stopped the van on the right lane to check what happened.'

It turned out that a lorry had collided into the back of her van at about 2.45pm yesterday afternoon .

Madam Ho was on her way home from her workplace in Bukit Batok. She lives in Serangoon.

Her husband, who declined to be named, was in the van with her.

When Madam Ho and her husband got out of the van, they saw that a police car was already there.

'We saw a large blue lorry had crashed through the metal barrier and overturned on the centre divider,' she said.

SHOCKED: Madam Ho says her van shook violently.

'The police officers were helping the driver out of the lorry.'

Madam Ho said she was driving at not more than 60 kmh when the accident happened.

'I drive along this road every day, and there are always many cars on this road so it's hard to drive faster than that,' she said. ' I didn't even see the lorry in my rearview mirror.'

When The New Paper arrived at the scene at about 3.30pm, paramedics were attending to the lorry driver.

A police spokesman said they got a call at about 2.45pm about an accident involving a van and a lorry along Braddell Road, towards Bartley Road.

The lorry driver, a man in his early 40s, was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital with injuries.

Police investigations are ongoing.

The police are appealing for witnesses to call the Traffic Police Hotline at 1800-5471818.

Sharp Shock

Head hits train again and again

HE FELL forward and his head hit the train as it was pulling into the station.

And as the train braked and slowed, Mr Chua Leong Hua's head continued bumping against the moving train - until a fellow commuter on the platform saw what happened and pulled him away.

By the time help arrived, Mr Chua, 59, was dead.

A post-mortem showed that he had suffered a heart attack. And the impact of his head hitting the train repeatedly caused him to suffer massive head injuries.

Last month, State Coroner Victor Yeo recorded a verdict of misadventure into Mr Chua's death, saying that it was 'a most unfortunate accident'.

This is believed to be the first incident of its kind.

The court heard that Mr Chua, a general worker at a Tuas factory, left his Bukit Batok flat on 6 Feb at about 5.15am.

It was the usual time he left his home to catch the first train to work.

During the inquiry, the court was shown the security camera footage of the incident, which happened at the Bukit Batok MRT Station.

The footage showed Mr Chua standing near the end of the platform as he waited for the train at about 5.45am that day.

He and other commuters were standing behind the yellow line.

Just as the north-bound train was pulling into the above-ground station, Mr Chua suddenly fell forward and his head hit against the first cabin of the incoming train.

His upper body was bent at about 45 degrees, with his head leaning against the moving train.

This resulted in his head being hit repeatedly until a commuter pulled him away.

The train then came to an abrupt stop when someone pressed the emergency stop button.The court heard that by then, the train was about 5m to 6m away from its normal stopping position.

The driver alighted and saw Mr Chua lying in a pool of blood on the platform next to the last cabin.

His haversack, which contained his work attire, was beside him.

The driver, Mr Qaser Muhetheen, said that he did not see any passengers with his head sticking out of the platform when he was pulling into the station.

The train was travelling at about 40km/h at that time.

Wife can't deal with footage

The security footage did not show anyone pushing Mr Chua. Neither did he run towards the incoming train.

Mr Yeo concluded that due to Mr Chua's underlying heart disease, the latter had very likely suffered a heart attack and fainted forward as the train was pulling in.

This resulted in his head hitting the side of the moving train, causing him to sustain fatal injuries.

Mr Chua's wife, Madam Neo Kuan, 57, was present at the inquiry.

She had been married to Mr Chua for 28years and they have two sons, aged 27 and 22.

Madam Neo asked to leave the court temporarily when the security footage was played.

She told The New Paper that it was 'too cruel' to watch how her husband died.

Said Madam Neo in Mandarin: 'I couldn't bear to watch it, so I left and returned later for the verdict. His head was badly hurt in the incident.'

She added that her husband was a hardworking man who seldom took leave from work.

'Although he wasn't earning much, he always did his best to provide for the family,' she said.

Mr Chua did not have a high education but he took up English night classes so that he could improve himself.

Madam Neo said that her husband had suffered from high blood pressure and high cholesterol for almost two years.

She said: 'He had been taking medication for high blood pressure. But he never complained about the medication causing him drowsiness or dizziness.'

She did not know if her husband suffered from any heart diseases, but said that he had been a smoker for 20 years.

Recalling how she never got to say goodbye to her husband, Madam Neo said that she was still sleeping when Mr Chua left for work that day.

'He would eat breakfast at a coffee shop near his workplace before starting work,' said Madam Neo.

'If he was not feeling well that day, he would have told me and he would not have gone to work. But he did not say anything.'

The Land Transport Authority had announced in September 2008 that platform screen doors will be built for all above-ground stations by 2012.

The 1.5m-tall doors could prevent similar accidents from happening.

Underground stations already have screen doors that prevent commuters from coming into contact with the trains as they are pulling in.

Man catches wife who falls from 4th floor

He's unable to hold on to her; she hits car at foot of block, denting hood

HIS fast reflexes saved his wife's life.

PICTURE: TNP ILLUSTRATION

A Taiwanese man was in the right place at the right time when his wife fell from their fourth-storey apartment.

The man, who was standing in the street below, quickly reached out his arms to catch her.

Though they both suffered injuries from the incident, the man's actions prevented his wife from being more seriously injured.

The incident took place on Saturday afternoon.

The police told Taiwan newspapers that the woman, known only as Madam Wang, 37, had been married to Mr Chen, 38, for more than 10 years.

They have a son and daughter.

A neighbour said the couple had gone shopping earlier in the day.

At around 11am, Madam Wang returned home and made a call to her mother. The two are believed to have quarrelled over the phone.

Depression

Madam Wang, who suffers from depression, went to the fourth-floor balcony and locked the door.

She then sat with her back facing the edge of the building and began crying and wailing.

Her young son got worried and called his dad, who was helping someone with a painting job at that time.

Mr Chen rushed back at once. At the foot of his apartment block, he saw his wife sitting on the balcony.

He shouted for her to open the door and told her not to do anything drastic.

Mr Chen kept talking to his wife for the next hour. She calmed down somewhat, but refused to leave the balcony or unlock the door.

At around 12.30pm, officers from the fire department arrived at the scene and started preparing for a rescue operation.

While they were in the process of inflating a safety mattress, Madam Wang suddenly fell.

As she plummeted from the fourth floor, Mr Chen did the only thing he could - he tried to catch her.

Impact too great

But the impact was too great.

Mr Chen was unable to hold on to his wife, who then fell on a car at the foot of the block, denting the hood.

Madam Wang and Mr Chen were taken to the hospital.

Madam Wang suffered multiple fractures, while Mr Chen fractured his right shoulder.

They have both been hospitalised.

A spokesman for the fire department said that objects falling from a height can pick up a lot of speed on the way down.

He warned that people should not attempt to catch falling objects as they could be injured.

Madam Wang weighed around 50kg. Based on the height of her fall, the impact Mr Chen felt would be equivalent to being struck by a heavy free-falling object travelling at 55kmh.

All's Well For Puppy Accidentally Flushed Down Toilet

Close shave for kid at playground

A boy had a narrow escape after the newly-assembled roof of a playground structure collapsed and nearly fell on him.

The incident happened at the playground of Block 304 in Sengkang.

Stomper Chan Bin said: "The upgraded playground was re-opened on Saturday. The next day, the roof assembly fell off, almost hitting a boy.

"Maybe it was sabotage or the contractor's fault, but shouldn't the authorities have inspected the equipment first?"

巴士云顶翻覆 22新加坡人受伤

（吉隆坡综合讯）一辆载着新加坡游客的长途巴士，昨天下午从马来西亚高原度假胜地云顶下山时翻覆，造成26名乘客和司机受伤，至少四名新加坡人伤势严重。

司机大喊“无法煞车”

《星洲日报》报道，这辆巴士才开车5分钟，就怀疑是煞车器失灵，在一个转弯处撞向分界堤，然后翻覆。

当时巴士车速不快，不过，多数乘客早已察觉巴士似有不妥，他们在司机大喊“无法煞车”后，赶忙移去巴士后半部，以减轻撞击力。巴士出事后，一辆尾随而来的汽车闪避不及，撞上巴士，司机也受了伤。

出事巴士共有26名乘客，22个是新加坡人，四个是马国人。意外发生后，巴士司机和所有乘客皆被送到吉隆坡中央医院救治，一名13岁新加坡女孩伤势严重，她被座垫压到头部，伤口裂至见骨，必须马上动手术。

巴士司机莱嘉安（41岁）在医院受访时说，巴士开车5分钟后，他发觉煞车器失灵，于是大声提醒乘客。

他说：“为了避免撞下左边山崖，我只好往右边分界堤撞去，希望把伤害程度减至最低。”莱嘉安驾驶巴士已有13年，这是他加入这家长途巴士公司后，第一次发生车祸。

据了解，出事巴士的新加坡游客原是乘搭旅行社安排的双层巴士下山，却由于双层巴士发生故障，改搭这辆长途巴士。

一名新加坡伤者林淑云（31岁）说，她和家人、朋友一行多人，通过当地一间旅行社，前天抵达云顶游玩。“我们原本下午2时乘坐旅行社安排的双层巴士 下山，但旅行社却临时说巴士坏了，所以会安排团员分坐两辆其他巴士下山。”她说，他们等到3时许才上巴士，上了巴士后，她觉得巴士陈旧，一开车就摇摇晃晃 的，令她担心不已。

她说，由于当时车速不快，因此大多数人来得及作出反应，只受轻伤。

警方还在调查巴士出事的原因。

If She had Stuck to Her Usual Route....