One person dead, one taken to hospital after fire at Choa Chu Kang flat
The fire broke out in the bedroom of a unit on the 14th floor - with the deceased found inside the unit, and subsequently pronounced dead at the scene by an SCDF paramedic.
by Charmaine Jacob · CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
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SINGAPORE: A person died and another was taken to hospital after a fire at a Choa Chu Kang flat in the early hours of Thursday (Mar 19).
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the blaze at Block 763 Choa Chu Kang North 5 at about 3am. The fire broke out in the bedroom of a unit on the 14th floor.
A 33-year-old man was found lying motionless in the unit, police said in response to CNA's query.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by an SCDF paramedic.
A 61-year-old woman from the affected unit who had evacuated before SCDF’s arrival was assessed for smoke inhalation and taken to Singapore General Hospital.
Two other people from the affected block were assessed for smoke inhalation, but declined to be brought to the hospital, SCDF said in a Facebook post.
About 70 people were evacuated by the police and SCDF as a "precautionary measure".
SCDF extinguished the fire with two water jets and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
"MY HEART WAS RACING"
When CNA arrived at the unit at about 11am, the left side of the 14th floor had been cordoned off. Two people in white protective suits and two police officers were standing along the corridor, looking into the unit through the window.
The floor and walls of the 14th floor were covered in black soot.
Ms June, a domestic helper living in the unit on the 15th floor directly above the one that caught fire, said she was woken at around 2.30am by a thumping sound, almost like dumbbells being dropped.
She initially did not think much of it and assumed her neighbour was doing a late-night workout.
However, the noise grew increasingly loud. When she got out of bed to check, she saw smoke billowing through the bedroom window.
She quickly opened the door and ran to the living room, which was already filled with smoke.
“I was very scared. My heart was racing. I was panicking so much,” she said, adding that she was thankful the elderly woman she takes care of was not at home.
She grabbed a mask and rushed to wake her two employers at home.
Firefighters arrived shortly after and began banging on their windows. Ms June ran to the neighbouring units and knocked on their doors to alert the others to evacuate.
Ms June and her employers said they were worried that the fire would spread to their unit, and waited anxiously downstairs for updates. They only returned to their unit after 10am.
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