Early morning fire burns flats in Whampoa but no one injured

An early Saturday morning fire at a Housing Board block in Whampoa gutted two neighbouring two-room flats.

In the flat where the fire started, one of its bedroom walls collapsed into the unit beside it.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was notified of the fire at Block 33, Jalan Bahagia at 1.50am. When SCDF officers arrived, the occupants of the flat where the fire first blazed - two men in their 40s and 60s - as well as 40 residents had already evacuated the block.

It is not known if there were any occupants in the other flat on fire but no one was injured. The fire was under control within 10 minutes.

One resident, a woman in her 70s, was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital after complaining of discomfort. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Mr Heng Chee How, Member of Parliament for Whampoa Single Member Constituency, posted on Facebook that public agencies were doing their best to help affected residents, as well as to clean up and restore affected services to the block.

He added that HDB has arranged for interim rental flats for the affected families.

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