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Michael and his neighbour, Rajen, witnessed a nasty accident. This is what they told the police.

The policeman, Officer Lim, said to the boys, “Perhaps you can start by telling me where you were going and what you saw.”

Michael spoke first. “At about two o’clock, we were walking towards the bus stop. We were waiting at the traffic light junction when a white minibus turned very quickly from the side road just as the green arrow came on.”

Rajen added, “All of a sudden, we heard the brakes screeching and then there was a loud bang. The bus hit a yellow taxi that had stopped to pick up a passenger.”

“Was anyone injured?” asked Officer Lim.

“Not yet,” said Rajen. “Soon after, we heard another loud bang. We saw a blue truck crash straight into the back of the minibus. The door flew open and a boy fell out onto the pavement. His head was bleeding and he looked like he was breathing heavily.”

1Text © 2010 Curriculum Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Education, SingaporeIllustration © 2010 Panpac Education Pte Ltd

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“How far away from the accident were you?” asked Officer Lim.

Michael answered, “About four to five metres away from the accident. We pushed our way through the crowd to get a better look. Children were screaming and the minibus driver and some other men carried six of them out of the bus. All of them had cuts and bruises on their faces, arms and legs.”

“And two little girls were screaming for their parents. They were holding on to their injured arms. Some onlookers helped the children to the pavement. They looked really scared,” added Rajen. “I was also very scared.”

Michael continued, “We thought the boy on the pavement had been seriously injured and needed to get to the hospital quickly. Just then, we heard the sirens. Two ambulances and the police arrived. The attendants lifted the boy from the pavement onto a stretcher. They carried him into one ambulance. Then they helped the other injured victims into the second ambulance. The ambulances then rushed off to the hospital.”

“After that, several parents of the injured arrived. They looked very worried as they chased after the ambulances.”

“What happened then?” asked Officer Lim.

Rajen answered, “The crowd broke up into smaller groups.People were still talking about the accident. Someone said that the children should have been wearing seat belts in the bus.”

Officer Lim nodded. “What time did you leave?” he asked.

“Rajen and I went home at about 2.30 p.m.,” said Michael.

2Text © 2010 Curriculum Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Education, SingaporeIllustration © 2010 Panpac Education Pte Ltd