25-year old driving instructor, Jason Cheong, died yesterday afternoon after a tree got uprooted due to strong winds and rain and landed on his white Honda City. Fortunately, his 34-year old driver learner, Marliana Sumarno, who was in the driver's seat at the time, escaped with cuts on her right shoulder and back pains.

According to The Sunday Times, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) received a call for assistance at 4:23pm on Saturday and utilised hydraulic rescue tools to free Jason and Marliana from the vehicle. Marliana reported to the local paper that it was raining heavily with lightning and thunder during the time of the accident.

While Marliana was conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for her injuries, Jason was pronounced dead on scene by paramedics, along Admiralty Road West just opposite the Admiralty West Prison. The victim's parents and girlfriend broke down in tears when they arrived at the scene. 

The tree stretched across more than two lanes of the road, while traffic was also blocked from another fallen branch 150 metres from the incident site.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In 2010, a 32-year old Projects Manager was killed in a similar incident when an uprooted rain tree fell on his Honda Freed at the junction of Thomson Hills Drive and Yio Chu Kang Road.