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An accident occurred between a lorry and a car at the junction of Cross Street and Cecil Street in the Central Business District on Sunday (Sep. 5) afternoon around 5:44pm.

Three men between the ages of 28 and 34, as well as the 58-year-old driver of the car and her 60-year-old passenger were conveyed to the hospital.

Two workers flung from lorry

According to a witness' testimony reported by Lianhe Wanbao, the car had been in the far-left lane while the lorry had been in the next lane over, which allows it to either go straight or turn left.

The collision allegedly occurred after the car went straight instead of turning left, crashing into the lorry as it turned left.

A 55-year-old food delivery rider who witnessed the accident told Shinmin Daily News that he heard a loud bang, and that the impact of the collision caused two migrant workers to be flung out of the back of the lorry.

Wanbao reported that after the accident occurred, the lorry driver was so frightened that he reversed the vehicle, causing the rear wheel to run over one of the migrant workers who had been flung out of the vehicle.

The driver then reportedly drove forward again, causing the rear wheel to run over the worker once more.

The witness ran forward to help the migrant worker who had been run over by the lorry.

He said that the worker was bruised and bleeding, and that while he was conscious, he could not speak and could only moan in pain.

A 43-year-old consultant who drove by the immediate aftermath of the accident and stopped to help told The Straits Times that one of the workers had wheel tracks on his back.

He also said the other worker was on the verge of losing consciousness, and was bleeding slightly from his head.

ST reported that about five people gathered to help the injured men.

Police investigations ongoing

Responding to Mothership's queries, the police said they were alerted to the accident in question at 5:44pm on Sunday (Sep. 5).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told Mothership that five people were conveyed to Singapore General Hospital. The police confirmed that all five people were conscious when conveyed to the hospital.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Ferrying migrant workers in lorries has been highly-debated

In the aftermath of the Sep. 5 accident, migrant workers' rights organisation Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) reiterated its call for the removal of the exception in the Road Traffic Act that allows migrant workers to be transported in lorries.

Currently, the Road Traffic Act prohibits lorries and goods vehicles from being used for passenger transport, except in the case of ferrying workers between their lodgings and worksites.

In an accident reported over the weekend, two migrant workers were flung out of the back of a lorry and were injured. HOME reiterates its call to remove the exception in the Road Traffic Act which allows lorry owners to transport their workers thereon. https://t.co/wFc9pSDcGK pic.twitter.com/j9qFsTWIvf

— HOME Singapore (@home_migrantssg) September 7, 2021

After multiple lorry accidents occurred in April this year, leaving several workers dead, Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Melvin Yong published a blog post in which he wrote that migrant workers should not be transported in goods vehicles such as lorries.

Instead, he said, buses with seat belts are a "perfectly viable alternative" for transporting migrant workers.

The next day in Parliament, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor acknowledged that from the perspective of road safety, it would be "ideal" for lorries to not carry any passengers in their rear decks.

However, she said that there could be higher costs incurred and other practical challenges to face, if construction workers were ferried in buses rather than lorries, and that more regulation will cause "acute pain" to the industry.

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Top photo via Shinmin Daily News.

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