Shaken, stirred, shocked

Yesterday began just like any other ordinary morning. I had just gone to the Kampung Baru market and was heading home. Then suddenly in the distance, I saw two men running across the road with a lot of urgency.

As I slowed down, I thought to myself, "What the heck, why the recklessness?" Then I saw the reason. To my horror, a car had plunged into the big open drain beside the main road. I didn't see it happen but from the reaction of the two men, the car must have gone over just a few seconds earlier.

This was a nasty accident. Besides the driver, were there any other occupants inside this white Chevrolet? I stopped my car some distance away and ran towards the accident site. I wanted to see how I could help but by the time I reached the vehicle, other people were already on the job. Someone was already trying to pry the door open. Took some force to do so eventually. There was a kid inside, most probably around three years old. He was lifted to safety and into the arms of some ladies nearby.

The car was perched precariously in the drain. It rocked a bit. Could it still crash down entirely into the drain? Nobody wanted to know. The rescuer shouted to the driver to get out fast, which he did. He clambered out quickly.

All this happened very quickly. No presence of mind to take photographs. The focus was on the rescue mission. Luckily, the child and his father were only shaken, stirred and shocked. No external injuries. They retired across the road to a coffee shop while the driver called his family. What I heard from him was that he was trying to avoid an obstruction in the middle of the road, swerved to the left, lost control of the car and plunged into the drain. Methinks he might have driven rather quickly with only one hand on the steering wheel or else he wouldn't have lost so much control of the car.

Here's the driver, still feeling shocked over the whole matter. The boy seemed all right now, in the arms of his grandfather. Later, when I passed along the road again, I saw that the car had been wrenched out from the drain and placed on a truck. Presumably it will be on its way to the police station first before going to any workshop. Personally, I think the car is a write-off. Every part of its body would have suffered a lot of twists and stresses. I doubt any amount of work can restore it to its pre-accident condition.