SINGAPORE, April 24 — Three pedestrians have been killed after they were hit by a lorry that "came hurtling” towards them and a SBS Transit double-decker bus near Yio Chu Kang MRT station yesterday.

TODAY understands that two of the deceased —  Chua Cheng Thong, 87, and  Gina Chua Aye Wah, 59 — were family members, though their exact relationship is unclear.

The other victim was a 63-year-old man, whose identity is still unknown.

The police said the 25-year-old lorry driver has been arrested for dangerous driving causing death. He was conscious when he was taken to the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Police investigations are ongoing.

TODAY understands that the lorry crashed into the pedestrians before hitting the bus, partially shattering its windscreen.

"Our bus was stationary at a traffic junction when a lorry came hurtling and hit three pedestrians and our bus. None of our passengers were injured. Our hearts go out to the family of the pedestrians,”  Tammy Tan, the senior vice president for corporate communications at SBS Transit, said in a statement.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the accident along Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 at about 9.38am.

"SCDF extricated two pedestrians from underneath the lorry using a rescue lifting airbag. All three pedestrians were declared dead at the scene,” the SCDF added.

When contacted by TODAY,  Xu Shu Jing, 55, a partner at the local company which owns the lorry, confirmed that his son,  Xu Kai Xiang, 25, was behind the wheel of the vehicle.

He spoke to his son briefly at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital earlier yesterday.

The younger  Xu had told him that his vision had "gone blurry” before he hit the pedestrians.

"(My son) couldn’t see anything, and then the accident happened,” the elder  Xu recounted to TODAY in Mandarin.

He said the company was in the business of installing doors and that this was the first time its lorry — the only vehicle operated by the company — had been involved in an accident.

When TODAY arrived at the scene about 11.30am, several police officers were seen huddled around three blue tents set up next to the lorry.

Some family members of the deceased arrived at the scene around noon. A woman was seen sobbing and had to be supported by a policewoman as she was brought near the tents.

This is at least the third fatal road accident in recent days.

A 23-year-old woman was killed in an early-morning collision between a car and an ST bus in Bukit Timah on Sunday.

Last Thursday, a National University of Singapore student was killed after the taxi she was in collided with a car at the junction of Clementi Road and Commonwealth Avenue West.

In a statement yesterday evening, the Singapore Road Safety Council (SRSC) said it is "alarmed and very sad to learn of the fatalities in separate accidents in recent days”.

"However, the key lesson here is that accidents can be prevented,” said SRSC chairman Bernard Tay.

"Drivers have a duty and responsibility to prevent accidents at all times, particularly where vulnerable road users are present. Drivers must always travel at safe speeds and to keep a careful lookout for other road users as they share the same road space.”

SRSC said all persons travelling in vehicles, irrespective of their age, should be appropriately belted up. Adults and children below the height of 1.35m shall use booster seats or approved adjustable seat belts and child restraints respectively to lower the risk of injury in the event of an accident.

"Every road user has the responsibility to look after one’s own safety and to practice defensive habits whenever they are on the road,” said  Tay.

"The SRSC will continue working with the Traffic Police, the Land Transport Authority and other road safety stakeholders to engage road users through education programmes aimed at improving attitudes and behaviours to road safety.” — TODAY