Tipper truck spills 10 tonnes of clay at Bugis

Traffic was halted at Bugis yesterday morning after a tipper truck spilt about 10 tonnes of soft clay.

Mr Mano Garan, who called The New Paper hotline, said the truck had braked suddenly at the junction of Ophir Road and Beach Road.

The senior technician was in his company's van on Ophir Road at about 9am when he saw the white clay fly out of the back of the tipper truck, which was just 100m ahead of his van.

Mr Mano, 63, said: "The truck and the entire stretch of road was covered in white."

The driver of the tipper truck, who wished to be known only as Mr Arul, said he was on his way to a dumping site at Marina South when the traffic light at the junction turned amber.

The permanent resident from India stepped on his brakes, causing about half of the truck's 20-tonne load to spill onto the road.

The truck, which belongs to contractor KTC Group, was transporting soft clay from a Land Transport Authority work site in the Rochor area, said its 48-year-old head of operations, Mr Adrian Tham.

Mr Arul, 38, an experienced heavy vehicle driver, has been working in Singapore for 15 years.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted at 9.16am and it sent a fire engine to the scene.

Two lanes had to be cordoned off as SCDF officers used hoses and brooms to remove the clay.

The traffic congestion, which stretched to Lavender Street, cleared up only around 11.45am.

No one was hurt in the incident.