Police are now investigating the murder of the 41-year-old Chinese Malaysian.

They received a call at about 7.15pm about an injured person in a building in Flanders Square, a dead-end street off Petain Road.

The woman, found lying face up on the ground floor with injuries to her upper body, was pronounced dead by paramedics at 7.25pm. She was fully clothed.

The owner of the building discovered the body and informed the police. It has not been established whether she lived there.

The row of three-storey residential units houses mostly foreign workers from India, Bangladesh, China, Thailand and Malaysia.

The Malaysian was the third woman found dead last week. Two bodies had earlier been discovered in Bukit Batok and Sentosa.

Last night, the road in front of the buildings in Flanders Square and the dark walkway behind them were cordoned off by the police for at least five hours.

Eyewitnesses told The Sunday Times that at about 7pm, they heard two screams from a woman. One man said he saw a woman, believed to be the one found dead later, run in and out of a building shortly after.

Bangladeshi construction worker Rabiaul Awal, 27, who lives with 30 others in another building, said he heard a commotion. He looked down from a third-storey window and saw several men running along the street.

'I was scared, so I called my friend. We left the building and had dinner elsewhere,' he said. He returned at about 9pm but was kept out by the police cordon.

A Chinese national, who gave his name only as Mr Gong, said that several units along the street are known to house brothels.

The 25-year-old supermarket assistant has lived in the area for four months and said the street was usually quiet and peaceful, except on weekends when foreign workers sat in groups along it.

'The prostitutes use mainly the back alley. I never see them. I never talk to my neighbours. We're all busy with our own lives,' he said.

Another Chinese national, a retail assistant who wanted to be known only as Ms Li, 22, moved into the area four days ago and was shocked to learn of the murder.

'I visited the area with a local friend who told me not to stay here as he said he did not have a good feeling about this place,' she said. She had previously lived in Tiong Bahru.

'But I was urgently looking for a place. Now I don't know if I dare to stay here anymore.'

debyong@sph.com.sg

Witnesses can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000