SCDF conducts search and rescue operation with the help of SCDF K9 search dogs. (Photo: SCDF)

SINGAPORE: One worker has died and 10 others were injured after an uncompleted viaduct beside the slip road from Upper Changi Road East to the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) collapsed in the early hours of Friday (Jul 14).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at 3.35am. About 60 SCDF officers, assisted by K9 search dogs, were involved in the search and rescue operation. 

The uncompleted highway structure at Upper Changi Road East which collapsed, killing one worker and injuring 10 others.

The 10 injured workers were taken to Changi General Hospital (CGH) for treatment, SCDF said. A CGH spokesperson said that eight of the 10 have been admitted.

At 6.45am, the SCDF updated that search and rescue operations had been completed and all workers at the construction site were accounted for. 

Eleven workers were on top of the structure before the collapse. The worker who was killed was Chinese national Chen Yinchuan.

Three other Chinese workers, an Indian worker and six Bangladeshi workers were injured.

One of the men taken to CGH said that the workers at the site were in a floodlit area when the accident happened. The lights then went out and a few workers slipped, with one of them catching his leg on a piece of concrete. 

STOP-WORK ORDER ISSUED, CONSTRUCTION PERMIT REVOKED

In separate statements on Friday, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said they have launched investigations into the cause of the accident. 

Construction firm Or Kim Peow Contractors was carrying out works to cast the decking for the new viaduct next to the slip road - which was closed to traffic - when the viaduct structure between two piers collapsed, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said. 

Preliminary investigations indicated that corbels – brackets that help support beams – had given way, it said. 

BCA later clarified in a statement that it was specifically the support structure (girder) and platform (deck slab) for one portion of the viaduct that collapsed during concrete works.  

BCA said it has revoked the permit for construction works at the site, and has ordered engineers responsible for the project to submit a detailed investigation report. 

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