Chaos broke out in Little India last night (Dec 8), after a crowd of hundreds surrounded a coach at the junction of Race Course Road and Tekka Lane that knocked down and killed an Indian national.
The riot, which the police said involved about 400 people, broke out around 9.30pm. The police said 27 South Asians have been arrested. More could be hauled in as investigations continue. The case has been classified as rioting with dangerous weapons.
In total, there were 18 casualties including 10 police officers, four Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel, as well as the coach driver - whom the police said is Singaporean - and his assistant. Six remained at Tan Tock Seng hospital overnight but their conditions were “not serious”, the authorities said.
Writing on Facebook at close to 3am, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the riot was a “very grave incident”. “Several police officers were injured, and vehicles damaged or destroyed. The situation is now under control, and investigations are underway.” he said.
“Whatever events may have sparked the rioting, there is no excuse for such violent, destructive, and criminal behaviour. We will spare no effort to identify the culprits and deal with them with the full force of the law.”
The incident began after the SCDF was alerted at 9.25pm to a road accident in Little India. In a statement, SCDF said that a man was trapped under the bus when its officers arrived on the scene and a paramedic pronounced the man dead. While SCDF rescuers were extricating the body using hydraulic rescue equipment, “projectiles” were thrown at them, the statement said.
Eye witnesses told TODAY that they heard shouting before a crowd that had gathered at the scene started hurling bottles and rubbish bins at the police and SCDF vehicles. The crowd became more rowdy and threw more items including metal grates, baskets, vegetables and pieces of road dividers at law enforcement personnel.
Several police cars were overturned and five vehicles - three police vehicles, an SCDF ambulance and a motorbike - were burnt. In total, five police vehicles and nine SCDF vehicles were damaged.
A press conference was held after 2am at the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean, who was flanked by Second Home Affairs Minister S Iswaran, Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee and Deputy Police Commissioner T Raja Kumar.
Mr Teo, who visited the scene with Mr Iswaran after the riot was brought under the control, noted the riot started after a crowd reacted to the fatal accident. “The Government will not tolerate such lawless behaviour. I have asked Police to deal with all aspects of the incident, including the traffic accident, what happened immediately after the traffic accident, and all ensuing incidents,” he said. “Police will investigate the matter thoroughly and deal with all the persons involved strictly, firmly, and fairly according to our laws.”
One eyewitness told TODAY he saw an ambulance arrive and paramedics attempt to extract the man who was pinned under the coach. When they were unable to, the crowd became incensed and began throwing things at the ambulance, shattering the windscreen.
Ms Faith Su, 31, who was at her relatives’ home near Race Course Road, said she heard the commotion around 9.45pm, when crowds began swarming around the coach, shouting and throwing things. “The situation escalated into a riot, there was overturning of the police cars that had arrived, and it looked like one of them caught fire and it was burning. Things only settled down a bit after the riot police arrived. I (could) still smell the smoke (around 11pm).”
Fatal accident sparks angry night riot in Little India
The riot broke out after a fatal traffic accident occurred at 9:23 Sunday night between a private bus and a person at the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road, police said.
The Straits Times reported that the rioting by mainly foreign workers started after a bus hit a Bangladeshi worker.
To control the riot, police said they activated resources from Special Operations Command and Gurkha Contingent to the scene.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted at 9:25pm Sunday to a road traffic accident in the area. Upon arrival, they saw a man trapped under a bus and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
SCDF said while rescuers were extricating the body using hydraulic rescue equipment, projectiles were thrown at the personnel.
A total of 18 people, including four SCDF personnel, were sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital as a result.
The riot raised concerns among people in Singapore about safety in the city state and how such incidents could be prevented.
Little India Riot: 27 nabbed; more expected to be arrested in 'hours and days that follow'
When The Straits Times visited TTSH at about 1.45am on Monday, more than 10 SCDF officers were seen resting at a staging area, after receiving treatment for their injuries. Most had bandages to their face or arms, although one officer was in a wheelchair with a bandaged knee.
A nurse said roughly 15 SCDF officers arrived at about 1am for treatment at the hospital. Some family members of the injured were also spotted waiting at the hospital.
Mr Rafi Yaacob, 24, was at the hospital together with his mother and brother for his father, an SCDF ambulance driver, who had responded to the accident earlier.
The pest control officer said that rioters had smashed the windscreen of the ambulance his father was driving, and the glass shards had cut his face. His father was also injured when rioters threw stones at the paramedics.
Singapore bus death triggers riot
Police in Singapore have made 27 arrests after hundreds of people took part in a riot sparked by the death of an Indian national.
Trouble started after the 33-year-old man was knocked down by a private bus in a district known as Little India.
About 400 people took to the streets, hurling railings at police and torching police cars and an ambulance.
Police commissioner Ng Joo Hee said it was the first rioting in Singapore in more than 30 years.
He condemned the rioting as "intolerable, wanton violence".
"It is not the Singapore way," he added.
Rare Riot Hits Singapore
The riot has sparked concerns of festering unrest amid the large foreign workforce, numbering about 1.3 million as of June, in this island state of 5.3 million people.
In recent years, some foreign laborers—particularly low-pay unskilled workers in construction—have resorted to protests against alleged exploitation by employers, including a rare and illegal strike last year by about 170 public-bus drivers hired from China.
"It's an awakening to the government. They want to bring in foreign talent but there are consequences," said Michael Singh, a driver whose private bus was damaged by rioters, who threw stones and smashed the vehicle's windshield and glass door. "It's only a matter of time before things get out of control," he said.
Residents in Little India said occasional fights have broken out between foreign workers who gather there, but large-scale violence is unheard of. "There has been nothing of this magnitude [before]," said Alfred Tan, who lives in a state-built apartment block in the district. "When this happens, it worries us, what would happen next?"
Many shopkeepers in the area shut their businesses once the violence broke out. One of them, a 73-year-old retired policeman who runs a medicine store, who only gave his name as Raja, said Sunday's incident reminded him of racial riots that plagued Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s.
Singapore last experienced a major riot in 1969, when racially charged violence broke out for seven days between the city-state's majority ethnic Chinese and minority Malay residents, leaving at least four dead and 80 injured.
Police appeal for information
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Little India MPs seek stricter alcohol rules
The MPs from the wards in Little India are pushing for even tougher measures in response to the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) proposal to implement alcohol-free zones in the area.
And they have the support of shopowners in the affected area, who just a year ago were dead set against any such law.
MHA is seeking public views on two proposed rules: banning alcohol consumption in common areas like void decks and pavements, and limiting the hours during which stores can sell alcohol.
In recent years, MPs and residents have raised concerns about the problems of public drinking.
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