2 women rescued after taxi flips on its side in accident with car at Selegie Road

Four people were taken to hospital after an accident involving a taxi and a car at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Selegie Road in the early hours of Saturday morning (July 10).

Two women, who were passengers in the back seat of the taxi, were trapped in the vehicle that had flipped onto its side against a concrete barricade.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at about 2.50am.

The two women were found on top of one another.

"Due to the complexity of the rescue operation, rescuers from the SCDF's elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) were deployed to the scene," the SCDF said in its Facebook statement.

"Prior to DART’s arrival, firefighters from Central Fire Station immediately stabilised the taxi using stepped chocks and blocks, together with a winch to secure its undercarriage to a fire engine.

"These were done to minimize movement of the wreckage during the rescue operation so as not to aggravate the precarious situation, including the condition of the trapped persons.

"The taxi’s windscreen was also cut out to allow access to the casualties from the front."

"Upon DART's arrival, the rescuers accessed the casualties through the taxi’s front windscreen and its rear hatch to secure and stabilize the casualties within the narrow confines of the wreckage.

"Concurrently, another team of DART rescuers pried the taxi’s roof apart using hydraulic rescue equipment to create space for the casualties to be extricated safely."

SCDF said the "delicate and complex" rescue operation was successfully conducted in about an hour.

The two women, aged 47 and 41, were taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital with traumatic injuries.

The 22-year-old male car driver and 65-year-old male taxi driver were found outside their vehicles when the SCDF arrived.

They were conscious when taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital while the rescue operation was underway.

The police told Stomp they were alerted to the accident at 2.52am.

Police investigations are ongoing.