October 11, 2022, 01:56 PM
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More details have emerged about the SBS Transit bus captain who died following a collision near Hougang bus depot on Oct. 9.
54-year-old Singaporean
SBS Transit's vice-president for customer experience and communications Grace Wu told Mothership that the late bus captain was a 54-year-old Singaporean.
The man's name was Liu Shanlong (transliteration from Hanyu Pinyin), Chinese media Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) reported.
Image from Singapore roads accident.com/Facebook and Shin Min Daily News/Facebook.
Survived by wife and three children
Member of Parliament and National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant secretary-general Melvin Yong wrote a Facebook post about the fatal incident on Oct. 10.
According to Yong, who is also the director executive secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU), Liu had over 20 years of bus driving experience under his belt working for SBS Transit.
He was not only a union representative but also an NTWU leader, where he was "respected" by his peers, Yong said.
Liu was known to many as Ah Long (Hanyu Pinyin transliteration of 阿龙).
He was a "loving father and husband". He is survived by his wife and three school-going children.
Yong said NTWU is working closely with SBS Transit and added: "We will do all we can to support them during this difficult time."
What happened
Liu was driving an empty employees’ bus to return it to Hougang Depot before the bus went out of control at around 2:40am on Oct. 9, Wu said.
According to Yong, the bus had mounted a road kerb along Defu Ave 1, before it subsequently collided with a tree.
The collision left Liu trapped in his seat and he had to be extricated by Singapore Civil Defence Force officers.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic an hour later, according to a Ministry of Manpower spokesperson.
Liu's death marks Singapore’s 39th workplace fatality in 2022.
The incident is currently under investigation by the Traffic Police.
You can read Yong's post below.
Related story
Top image from Shin Min Daily News/Facebook and screenshot from @izmiey18191/TikTok
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