A 53-year old man was found dead at the foot of his Boon Lay block in the wee hours of Monday morning as a blaze raged in his unit above.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted at 2.15am and arrived to find a man lying motionless at the foot of Block 177, Boon Lay Drive.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Two minutes after the first call was received, the SCDF received another call requesting for assistance at the same location and arrived to find a 10th floor unit of the block on fire.

SCDF officers forced an entry into the one-room flat to find a mattress on fire in the living room. There was no one in the unit at the time.

The Straits Times understands the dead man had been living in the flat.

The case of unnatural death is being investigated by the police, while the SCDF is investigating the cause of the fire.