Smoke filled the basement carpark of Jem mall in Jurong East yesterday afternoon after a car engine caught fire.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted at about 12.40pm and firemen were at the scene within three minutes.

The fire in the engine compartment was put out quickly using a hose reel.

No one was injured.

A witness told The Straits Times that the area was smoky and caused some confusion.

Events executive Bhaskaran Balasamy said he and a colleague had driven into the basement carpark for lunch when they saw fire engines and firefighters.

They were in Basement 3 and did not see the flames, but could smell the smoke.

"Basements 2 and 3 were quite smoky," said Mr Bhaskaran, 32.

"We were just confused because vehicles were all still queuing to go inside the carpark, but no one knew what was happening.

"We were asking what was happening, but nobody knew."

When his colleague drove out, they saw police officers cordoning off the entrance to the carpark.

A spokesman for the mall said the fire triggered the water sprinkler and fire alarm at about 12.40pm.

The affected carpark area was reopened to the public at 2.07pm.