Two men trapped on a rooftop platform that was three storeys high after the gondola they were on stopped working were rescued by Singapore Defence Force (SCDF) officers on Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Tower on Cecil Street.

The men, who were not injured, were contractors hired to inspect the building's facade. They were on a gondola hoisted 30 storeys off the ground when its control panel caught fire. The men climbed onto a platform on the rooftop when the gondola stopped moving and awaited rescue.

The SCDF said they were alerted about smoke showing from the rooftop of the building at 1.56pm. Four fire engines and five supporting appliances were dispatched and arrived at the scene within six minutes.

The fire was "swiftly extinguished", said an SCDF spokesman. "Two male Chinese workers in their 40s who had self-evacuated from the gondola onto a concrete beam at the rooftop were lowered to safety by Dart (Disaster Assistance Response Team) rescuers."

The cause of the fire is being investigated. A spokesman from the management corporation of Prudential Tower said the two men were wearing full safety gear at the time of the incident.