Clinic staff help trapped driver

Two doctors and five nurses rushed to help the injured after a lorry collided with a taxi yesterday afternoon in Sembawang.

The lorry driver, a man in his 30s, was trapped in the driver seat after the accident at the junction of Sembawang Way and Sembawang Drive, just opposite Raffles Medical Clinic.

One of the clinic's nurses, who declined to be named, told The New Paper that a doctor and two other nurses attended to the trapped driver, who was later pulled out by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

Another doctor and three other nurses tended to the taxi driver and his passenger.

The nurse said: "It's our duty to help those in need, so we were the first to attend to them. Also, we happened to be the nearest medical clinic."

A resident, Madam Zhang Li Fang, 68, was in her kitchen when the accident occurred.

She said: "It was around 2.45pm when I heard a bang. Immediately, I rushed to the bedroom and saw that the driver, who was stuck in the front seat, was conscious."

Madam Zhang, whose flat overlooks the junction, said the taxi driver and passenger had climbed out of the taxi themselves.

She said: "I don't know how they collided, because both the right sides of the vehicles were badly damaged."

An SCDF spokesman said they had received a call at 2.45pm.

One fire engine and Red Rhino, and two fire bikes, ambulances and support vehicles were sent to the scene.

A man in his 30s was trapped in the lorry and had to be extricated using hydraulic rescue tools.

He was then taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital along with two other men, who are in their 50s and 30s. Both vehicles were towed away at 4pm.

A police spokesman said investigations are ongoing.

A resident, who wanted to be known only as Madam Lee, 50, told TNP that the junction was "dangerous".

The housewife said: "I've lived here for almost two years, and I've seen about five to six accidents happen at that junction.

"It's very dangerous because Sembawang MRT station is just across the road, so there is always a lot of people crossing, and some of these people jaywalk as well."

On Jan 2, a lorry flipped on its side after it collided with a taxi at the same junction, injuring one of the drivers, reported The Straits Times.

This article was first published on February 4, 2015.
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