SINGAPORE - A recurring argument between a couple and a 58-year-old man turned violent when the man allegedly attacked them with a knife at a housing block in Yishun on Thursday evening (June 23). 

Neighbours said that the three of them had been arguing heatedly over the past week, including once on Wednesday when the man was said to have threatened the couple with a knife. 

He returned on Thursday and allegedly attacked them at the lift lobby. 

In a statement on Friday, the police said they were alerted to a case of assault at 8.30pm on Thursday at block 510A Yishun Street 51 involving two victims - a man, 62, and a woman, 41.

The police said: “The attack purportedly arose from a prior dispute between both men who are known to each other.”

The suspect, 58, was arrested for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means and suspected drug-related offences, said the police, who are investigating the matter.

The victims were conscious when taken to hospital, the police added.

The statement did not mention how the assailant was caught. 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said on Friday it took two people to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital after receiving a call for help at around 8.50pm on Thursday.

In a widely circulated video online, several police vehicles are seen parked along the road near a block of flats. The video’s caption stated there had been a slashing incident at the block.

When The Straits Times visited the incident location on Friday afternoon, there was a trail of dark stains – that appeared to be blood – from the lift lobby to the door of the unit where neighbours said the victims had stayed since late 2021. 

The unit was locked and no one answered the door. 

The female victim is believed to be from the Philippines. 

Ms Fadilah Mazlan, 30, said she had heard shouting from the unit over the past week from her flat a few doors down. 

The man allegedly returned on Wednesday evening and threatened the couple who stayed there with a knife, but left when the 62-year-old man warned the assailant that he would call the police, recalled Ms Fadilah, a former waitress. 

She said that on Thursday evening, she heard the woman screaming for help near the lift lobby.

Another eyewitness, who declined to be named for fear of putting her family in danger, said she rushed out to tend to the bloodied woman at the corridor. 

The 38-year-old housewife said: “She was crying for help so I walked to her. There was blood all over her shirt and hands.” 

Together with her mother, she accompanied the woman downstairs to wait for an ambulance, when they saw that the alleged assailant had already been arrested. 

Another neighbour, who wanted to be known only as Ms Nuraq, 22, said she saw a man and a woman struggle at the lift lobby, the man trying to pull the woman into the lift.

Ms Nuraq, who saw the incident from her doorway across the lobby, said: “The man was trying to pull her back but after she got out, he saw me looking at him from my home and pressed the button to close the lift doors.” 

The woman’s arm and clothes were stained with blood, said Ms Nuraq, but she could not see her injuries clearly. 

Neighbours said that the lift lobby was cordoned off till midnight following the incident and that police officers and town council members visited neighbouring units to check on the residents. 

The incident is the latest following several weapon attacks this year.

On April 6, two assailants allegedly assaulted two victims in Boon Lay Drive, disrupting a wedding ritual.

And on April 14, a man, 46, was arrested after allegedly hacking his wife with a chopper in Beach Road.