A 68-year-old man was injured after he was allegedly flung from his seat when a Tower Transit bus applied its brakes suddenly on Tuesday (Sept 1).
According to Stomp, the passenger was travelling on bus service 858 at around 12.20pm when the incident happened on Woodlands Avenue 7 towards Woodlands Interchange.
His son, who goes by the name Jeremy, said that his father was seated near the front of the bus and facing forward when the bus suddenly braked.
His father reportedly fell forward onto the rear-facing seats and hit his head. He briefly lost consciousness and was later attended to by the bus captain and two passengers.
He suffered a bleeding head wound and significant swelling and bruising around his right eye.
The man was unable to walk after the incident and had to be taken off the bus on a stretcher.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told AsiaOne that it received a call for assistance along Woodlands Avenue 7 at about 12.25pm on Tuesday.
The passenger was taken to Woodlands Hospital.
Jeremy said that the family learned about the incident only when his father contacted them from the hospital at around 1.25pm.
The son he subsequently contacted Tower Transit at around 2pm and again at about 3pm but was unhappy with the updates received.
Jeremy claimed that no one from the bus operator contacted the family to check on his father's condition that day.
He eventually reached out to Tower Transit management through personal contacts, after which a customer service manager called him at around 10.30pm, according to Stomp.
His father has since been discharged from Woodlands Hospital with four days of hospitalisation leave.
Tower Transit told AsiaOne that it is aware of the incident.
The bus operator identified the passenger as Mr Goh and said its investigation found that a motorcycle in front of the bus had come to a sudden stop, causing the bus captain to apply emergency brakes.
Mr Goh, who was travelling on the bus, fell forward onto the rear-facing seats and was injured, Tower Transit said.
The bus captain and other passengers attended to him while the operator's Bus Operations Control Centre activated an ambulance.
Tower Transit said its customer experience team called Mr Goh at about 2pm, less than two hours after the incident, but was unable to get through.
His son later called the operator and was expecting an update, which was only provided at about 10.30pm that day, Tower Transit added.
The operator apologised to Mr Goh's family for the delay during what it described as a distressing time.
It added that it would continue to offer its full support, including assistance with necessary claims.
"We wish Mr Goh a full and speedy recovery."
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