2 taken to hospital after blaze engulfs Bishan coffee shop

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When ST visited at around 9am on April 3, all the stalls were closed and a few people were seen surveying the damage in the coffee shop. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

SINGAPORE - Two men were taken to hospital after a fiery blaze engulfed a coffee shop next to the Bishan bus interchange on Monday night (April 2).

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it was alerted to a "fire incident involving contents of a coffee shop at Block 514A, Bishan Street 13, at 11.05pm".

A video posted on Facebook at midnight shows flames rising as high as two storeys.

In another video, the surrounding area can be seen shrouded in thick smoke.

Twitter user namipandora also posted photos of the fire visible from a distance away, with black fumes in the air.

SCDF officers extinguished the fire using two water jets.

Two men, understood to have sustained minor injuries, were taken to Singapore General Hospital by an SCDF ambulance.

When ST visited at around 9am on Tuesday, all the stalls were closed and a few people were seen surveying the damage in the coffee shop.

Charred debris was confined to a section of the coffee shop, near the kitchen area of one of the stalls.

All the stalls were closed on April 3 and a few people were seen surveying the damage in the coffee shop. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

Several workers were seen standing outside, and no cleanup operation was under way yet.

The coffee shop building appeared to be mainly intact, though the wall near the windows was covered in black soot. It was still closed when ST went again in the afternoon.

"I was shocked," said Ms Megan Low, 19, who had walked to the coffee shop for lunch around noon. She added that she and her friend were initially very confused about what had happened.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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