SINGAPORE - Six lifts at two Housing Board blocks near Tekka Food Centre in Little India stopped working for six hours on Monday (Feb 6) night, after a power surge which left a third of the units without electricity.

Residents were left without lift access till midnight after the power surge, which happened about 7pm at Blocks 662 and 663, Buffalo Road, Shin Min Daily News reported on Tuesday (Feb 7).

A resident who gave his name as Mr Chen, a 66-year-old hawker, told the Chinese evening daily that more than 10 residents were stranded at the void deck.

Another resident, 73-year-old retiree Shen Jinyu, told Shin Min that she walked down from the 17th floor past 7pm, and thought the lifts would be fixed by the time she returned at 10.30pm, but they were not.

A spokesman for Tanjong Pagar Town Council, which manages the area, told The Straits Times on Tuesday (Feb 7) that electricity was restored to the 35 affected units in Block 662 and 38 affected units in Block 663 by 9pm.

"Power to the lifts were restored between 12am and 12.30am," said the spokesman.

The town council is working with SP PowerGrid to investigate the cause of the power surge.