Whampoa flat fire: 60-year-old man found dead in bedroom, 2 women rescued from kitchen

Sarah Koh and Nadine Chua
The Straits Times
May 6, 2024

A 60-year-old man died after a fire broke out in a Whampoa Housing Board flat in the early hours of May 6.

This is the third reported fire fatality in 2024, equalling the number of deaths for the whole of 2023.

In a Facebook post on May 6, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at Block 76 Lorong Limau at around 2.30am.

The fire was raging inside a unit on the sixth storey and firefighters had to force their way in, said SCDF.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic after being found inside one of the bedrooms.

Two others were rescued by firefighters from the utility room in the kitchen area and taken to Singapore General Hospital (SGH), said SCDF.

The police said the dead person was a 60-year-old man, and the two people taken conscious to SGH were women aged 60 and 77.

MP for Jalan Besar GRC Heng Chee How said in a Facebook post the two people taken to the hospital were the man’s family members.

Said Mr Heng: “The community organisations are working closely with HDB and the town council to render assistance and support to the affected families. We will come through this together.”

SCDF said firefighters from Central Fire Station and Bishan Fire Station used two water jets to extinguish the blaze, which had affected the entire unit.

It said around 200 people were evacuated by the police and SCDF as a precautionary measure.

The police said they do not suspect foul play based on preliminary investigations.

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A woman, 28, who lives in the unit next door, said she woke up at around 2.30am to her housemate banging on her door.

The engineer, who wanted to be known only as Ms Tan, said: “The moment I woke up, I could hear ambulance sirens downstairs.

“People were shouting. I wasn’t sure what was happening until I smelt smoke and realised there had been a fire.”

She said that just before evacuating, she saw firefighters carrying an elderly man out of the burnt unit.

Said Ms Tan: “I saw his face, and he seemed to already be unconscious.”

Mr William Tan, 50, who lives on the fifth storey, said his wife heard three loud bangs at around 2am.

He said: “She didn’t think much of it, so she went back to sleep. But around 30 minutes later, we heard panicked shouting and the sound of fire engines. So we quickly went downstairs to evacuate.”

Mr Tan said the 60-year-old man who died ran a nasi lemak stall at Whampoa Makan Place with his wife.

Said Mr Tan: “I would always see him at the lift or at the void deck. He’s very friendly, and sometimes he would tell me he was tired from working, but he still enjoyed it.”

A friend of the victim, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lee, 73, stood outside the burnt unit at 12.30pm.

Choking up, the retiree said: “I came to pay my respects. I knew him from always buying nasi lemak from him, and we became friends.

“Even though we weren’t close, I feel sad he’s gone. He can be quiet at times, but he was always smiling.”

Mr Heng told The Straits Times that HDB and the town council were working to restore electrical services to several flats, and restoring the common areas that were affected.

He said he told residents who were resting and waiting at Lorong Limau Resident’s Centre at Block 76 that their homes were safe.

He said occupants of the burnt unit will stay in temporary housing at Jalan Tenteram, as arranged by HDB.

According to SCDF’s annual statistics report released on Feb 21, there were three fire fatalities in 2023 and eight in 2022. There were more fires in 2023 with 1,954 cases in total, an 8.6 per cent increase from 1,799 cases in 2022.

On Feb 15, two fires broke out at two flats in Marsiling, with one claiming the life of a 72-year-old man. He was found unconscious by SCDF officers in a toilet.

On Feb 24, one person was found dead in a burning bedroom after a fire broke out in an HDB flat in Sembawang.