An amphibious vehicle and a BMW collided along Raffles Boulevard just outside the Esplanade on July 26 afternoon, resulting in tourists on the tour ride demanding refunds.
The accident led to the passengers of the Captain Explorer DUKW tour amphibious vehicle to argue with staff of the City Tours company as there was a delay and disruption to the itinerary, Shin Min Daily News reported.
In total, 22 passengers were affected, Shin Min quoted the City Tours general manager as saying.
The police were also called to the scene to mediate after some dissatisfied passengers refused to get off the duck boat.
The car that was involved in the accident reportedly had dents on it and its windshield was broken.
What happened
The amphibious vehicle enters the Singapore River though the Marina Bay area as part of its tour of the Civic District.
The land portion of the tour sees the duck boat bring visitors to various landmarks in the city.
A 44-year-old tourist told Shin Min the tour was supposed to start at 2.30pm, but the accident caused the tour duration to be reduced, as there was a one-hour delay.
Eventually, the passengers spent about 5 minutes in the water.
The ride in the river is roughly half an hour, according to publicly-available reviews of the tour.
Shouting match
A video even showed City Tours staff and tourists shouting, Shin Min added.
The shouting match was due to the passengers and the staff trying to get a word in at the same time, another tourist at the scene explained to the Chinese daily.
The passengers were demanding for compensation, the tourist also revealed, but more voices were raised as the next batch of passengers were presented by the previous batch of passengers who did not want to disembark from the craft.
The situation was made worse as the next batch of passengers had their ride delayed by some 30 minutes.
A staff member did apologise eventually, and offered to make full refunds.
Accident details
The police confirmed that an accident occurred at around at 2:35pm along 6 Raffles Boulevard.
A 47-year-old male car driver was conscious when conveyed to Raffles Hospital.
There were three other passengers in the car, but they apparently left in another vehicle following the collision, Shin Min reported.
According to the City Tours general manager, the affected tourists could choose to ride the duck boat again as compensation.
If they are unable to, they can receive a full refund.
She added that a total of 12 people have received a full refund, and the remaining 10 people have arranged for another ride.
Top photo via Shin Min Daily News