A 19-year-old worker from India was killed and 18 others injured after the lorry they were in was involved in a head-on collision with another lorry on Tuesday, 3 July 2012, reported the Straits Times. He had been working in Singapore for only five months.
Mr Kathiravan and three others were flung out from the back of the vehicle they were in, despite the higher railings and canopy that had been added to the lorry. Such fittings were made compulsory after two accidents in 2010 that killed three workers and injured 54 people. According to one of the 25 workers in the vehicle, the railings broke upon impact.
Eighteen of them are currently warded at Changi General Hospital with head and facial injuries. Of these, four people, including the 30-year-old driver, are in intensive care, said the newspaper.
The other lorry was empty except for its driver, who was also injured and hospitalised. The police said he was sober.
The accident happened at 6.15 am at the time, when it was still dark. the sky was still dark. The workers were just two minutes into their journey to their worksite at National University Hospital when the crash took place. Initial reports were that the empty lorry rammed into the workers’ truck.