Thousands of shoppers at Jem had to be evacuated on Saturday afternoon at around 2.00pm after a car caught fire in the basement carpark of the mall in Jurong East.

The owner of the silver Nissan Sunny saloon declined comment but the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the fire was extinguished by the mall's sprinkler system and security officers before fire-fighters arrived at the scene.

IT consultant Shirley Yong, 36, who was shopping at the mall said: "We heard the fire alarm but didn't know what was going on because we couldn't hear the announcement. But I could smell smoke."

No one was hurt at the latest incident but three employees at the NTUC FairPrice Xtra store in Jem suffered minor burns when a deep fryer caught fire last Wednesday. SCDF are investigating both incidents.