SINGAPORE, Dec 23 — A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to 27 months in jail and banned from driving for eight years after he drove at up to double the speed limit and crashed into a lorry, causing grievous injuries to nine migrant workers who were thrown from the back of the vehicle.

Tan Wei Feng pleaded guilty to one charge of dangerous driving, with a second charge taken into consideration for sentencing, Channel News Asia reported.

The court heard that on the morning of July 19, 2023, Tan was driving at speeds between 130km/h and 160km/h in an 80km/h zone on the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway. 

An eyewitness saw his car swerving between lanes at high speed before it slammed into the right rear of the lorry.

The impact caused the lorry to spin, hit the side barriers, and flip onto its side. "Some of the victims who were seated in the back of the lorry were thrown out of the vehicle," the court was told.

A total of 12 people were injured in the crash. Nine migrant workers from India, aged 23 to 41, suffered serious injuries including head trauma, brain haemorrhages, and multiple fractures to their spines, skulls, and ribs. 

Four of them required surgery.

The lorry driver and another worker in the front passenger seat sustained less severe injuries, as did a passenger in Tan's own car. 

Tan has not made any restitution to the victims.