Explosion Rips Through Flat, Leaving Man, 70, Badly Burnt

Source : The Straits Times, Sat, Aug 04, 2007

THE early-morning calm in Jalan Bukit Merah was shattered yesterday by a blast and an ensuing blaze at Block 105.

The force of the explosion blew out the front wall of a one-room rental unit on the sixth floor, ripped off kitchen windows and their frames, and sent them flying about 15m from the block.

The fire then gutted what was left of the flat, and little was recognisable later.

Firefighters battling the blaze entered the unit to find 70-year-old Chan Fook Seng standing at the back of the flat.

His shorts were soaked in blood and it looked like he had severe burns, witnesses said - but he was dousing himself with water.

The grandfather is now in intensive care at the Singapore General Hospital, with burns over 80 per cent of his body.

The blast and fire at 6.15am claimed another serious casualty - an 80-year-old woman - and left about a dozen residents from nine units unable to return home last night. All but one of these units were on the sixth floor.

The woman, Ms Chan Soo Ngan, whose flat was across the corridor from Mr Chan's, is also in intensive care with inhalation burns.

She could not leave her flat because the blown-out front wall of Mr Chan's unit blocked her only escape route. She remained trapped and was crying out weakly until help came.

One resident who escaped injury, Mr Mohd Nizam, a 26-year-old hotel bellhop, said he thought a bomb had gone off.

Ms See Chai Meng, 42, who lives two units away from Mr Chan, thought she had heard a 'giant thunderclap' at first, but realised something far worse was afoot when she heard residents from the opposite block screaming 'fire, fire!'. Clad in sleepwear, she and her neighbours bolted downstairs, some with damp towels pressed to their faces.

Three residents were taken to hospital after inhaling too much smoke, but they were later discharged, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said.

The blast sent out smoke so thick, residents living on the upper floors of the 12-storey block left their homes. The SCDF and police evacuated many from the fifth to 12th floors as a precautionary measure.

Engineers checked and found the block structurally sound, but the damage to the affected units was so extensive that their tenants could not move back last night. They have been assigned alternative accommodation while repairs are being done.

Preliminary findings indicate that a gas leak contributed to the blast.

Mr Chan, said to be a widower who lived alone, was described by residents as a hale fellow who cooked and was an active volunteer worker. His son, daughter and grandson rushed to hospital on receiving the news.

MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Koo Tsai Kee said at the scene that those who lost belongings would be given food and money to tide them over for this period, and that 'nobody will sleep on the streets'.