How quick-thinking workers helped rescue driver of car that fell into Tanjong Katong sinkhole

SINGAPORE: Quick-thinking workers who were near the sinkhole that emerged in Tanjong Katong Road South on Saturday (Jul 26) used a rope to pull the driver of the car to safety. 

Mr Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah, the site’s foreman, was working at a nearby site when he heard a loud sound. 

“I went to see (what happened) …  I see one car, one madam also inside,” he told reporters on the site of the sinkhole on Sunday.

The woman had exited the car and was dry, he said. CNA understands that the sinkhole was not filled with water at that point. 

Some workers had wanted to go into the sinkhole to pull the woman up, but Mr Subbiah advised against it. 

“I said to my workers, you go down you also cannot climb up,” said the 46-year-old. 

Three workers then threw a nylon rope into the sinkhole to pull the woman up to safety. They asked her if anyone else was in the car, and she said no.

Mr Subbiah then lent her a phone so she could call her daughter. 

Mr Subbiah, who has worked in Singapore for 22 years and is from India, said the whole ordeal lasted around five minutes. He is from Ohin Construction.