HE was taking his regular evening stroll when he heard a bang.
Mr William Tan, 42, turned around and saw a car in the air.
'I saw the back of the car go into the air. I couldn't see the car which hit it from behind, but I rushed over to look,' said the engineer who lives in Potong Pasir.
Eight cars were involved in yesterday's pile-up, which happened just before the Braddell exit on the CTE towards Ang Mo Kio, around 7pm.
Traffic on the stretch slowed to a crawl after the accident.
Said Mr Tan: 'When I turned around and walked back, I realised many more cars were involved in the accident - there was a whole line of them.
'The impact must have been huge for an entire car to get lifted up like that.'
Mr Tan, who takes a 45-minute stroll around his neighbourhood every day, said he decided to stay to 'watch the action' instead.
He said: 'I wanted to see if anybody was hurt.'
A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said one person suffered minor injuries and was taken to Singapore General Hospital.
Residents of the area said accidents are frequent along this stretch of the CTE.
Said one resident, a 59-year-old retiree who wanted to be known only as Mr Yong: 'Too many accidents happen along this road. They happen almost weekly.'
He said he was having dinner when he heard several loud sounds. He then rushed downstairs to see what had happened.
Said Mr Yong, who has lived in the area for nine years: 'Usually, I hear a screech and bang. Today, there were several screeches and bangs.
'This is by far the most serious accident I have seen here.'
Like Mr Yong, Mr Shah Daly, 29, and his family rushed out of their ground floor flat when they heard the noise.
They were all watching TV when they were interrupted by a series of bangs.
Said Mr Shah, a chef who has lived in the area for 15 years: 'I came out of my flat and the first thing I saw was this car standing up.'
Another resident, a 54-year-old administrative assistant who wanted to be known only as Ms Chan, rushed downstairs to catch a glimpse of the accident.
Said Ms Chan: 'My brother-in-law called to say there was a very serious accident, so I decided to see how bad it was.
'My daughter has just gone upstairs to get her handphone so she can snap a picture of the accident.'
She added: 'Most of the accidents happen during peak hours, in the mornings and evenings.'
