SINGAPORE, July 28 — A woman trapped in her car after it plunged into a sinkhole on Tanjong Katong Road South was pulled to safety by quick-thinking construction workers using a nylon rope.
The incident happened on the evening of July 26.
Construction foreman Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah and his crew rushed from a nearby PUB worksite after hearing a loud noise and spotting the car, The Straits Times reported.
They discovered a black car submerged in a gaping hole near their worksite.
“There was one car, and one woman was inside the car. I was thinking, somebody (fell) inside, I want to help,” said Subbiah, speaking to reporters near the scene the next day.
While one worker initially offered to climb into the sinkhole, Subbiah quickly stepped in with a safer solution.
“One of my workers wanted to go down and help her, but I said they (wouldn’t be able to) climb out. So, I told them to throw (her) the rope first,” he recalled.
The improvised rescue took roughly three to five minutes, with the team managing to pull the woman out before the pit filled with water.
At the time, it was still dry.
“Someone had fallen in. We were determined to save her as fast as possible. That was the goal,” said Subbiah, who spoke in Tamil.
He added that after learning her phone and identity card were still in the car, they passed her a phone.
“We saved a life… whatever happens, that is all that matters,” he said.
The sinkhole appeared at around 5.50pm, causing two lanes of the road to collapse. Residents nearby said a burst water pipe had been reported the night before.
Shortly after the rescue, other workers were seen placing barricades around the area. The woman was later taken to hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
National water agency PUB said she is undergoing further medical checks.
