Buildings near bomb site structurally safe, some damage might be from pre-existing conditions: BCA

SINGAPORE – The buildings near the construction site in Upper Bukit Timah where a

World War II bomb was detonated on Tuesday

are structurally safe for residents to return to, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) on Wednesday.

Damage to Hazel Park condominium’s common areas,

including cracked glass, dislodged plaster from ceilings and fallen light bulbs, are non-structural, it added.

“Some could be due to the impact of the blast, while some could have been pre-existing conditions before the disposal operation,” said the authority.

The BCA noted that the managing agent of Hazel Park had cordoned off the damaged areas as a safety precaution and undertaken minor repair works.

A team of 46 BCA engineers on Tuesday inspected Hazel Park and other buildings within a 200m radius of the bomb, after the 100kg WWII relic was disposed of in two controlled explosions.

All were found to be structurally safe.

The BCA said: “Buildings in Singapore are structurally designed to withstand tremors, including effects of a blast from a distance.”

It added: “Residents of the Hazel Park condo are advised to take note of any damage and inform the managing agent so that it can follow up with the rectification works accordingly.”

The Housing Board also inspected Block 154 Gangsa Road – located at the periphery of the 200m radius – before and after the detonation.

It said: “No structural cracks were observed and the building is safe.”

In the

largest evacuation operation in Singapore

involving a WWII relic, more than 4,000 residents within a 200m radius of where the unexploded bomb was found vacated their homes on Tuesday morning, before the detonation.

Residents were told it was safe to go home at about 5pm that day, some nine hours after they had evacuated.

At Hazel Park, some residents said they returned to find broken light bulbs and sections of the ceiling in common areas dislodged.

Mr Rafael Ansey, a Hazel Park resident, said he was told by the condominium management that a window at the lobby of a block had cracked.

The 35-year-old software engineer said some of his neighbours in units that faced the detonation site found broken light bulbs in their apartments.

Photographs sent to The Straits Times by residents showed cracks in the ceilings of lift lobbies, and that some parts of a ceiling had fallen off.

Hazel Park declined to comment on the damage when contacted by ST.

The aerial bomb was successfully disposed of by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Explosive Ordnance Disposal team at 1.45pm, the police said in a Facebook post.

A blast from the first detonation on Tuesday could be heard from Block 153 Gangsa Road at around 12.30pm.

The blast from the second detonation was heard at Senja-Cashew Community Club, about 2km away.

The police also said that the BCA, national water agency PUB, grid operator SP Group and the HDB conducted assessments of the construction site after the detonation.

Residents were allowed to return home after nearby drains and pipelines, evacuated buildings and roads were found to be structurally safe.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, the Singapore Army said the bomb had to be disposed of in situ because its parts were expected to be unstable after decades of deterioration, and moving it could have triggered an explosion.

More than 530 police officers and 45 members of the SAF were involved in the operation.

The bomb disposed of on Tuesday was not the largest bomb relic that the Ministry of Defence has handled.

In 2016, a 227kg unexploded aerial bomb was disposed of by the army on Pulau Senang. Other WWII projectiles and grenades have also been disposed of in Singapore.