SINGAPORE - A sprinkler triggered by a fire caused unexpected flooding in a Jurong East outlet mall, forcing some shops there to close on Thursday morning.
About nine stores and four pop-up stalls on the first storey of IMM Building were affected.
IMM's acting centre manager, Mr Eddie Lim, said a small fire caused by an electrical fault in one of the stores had activated the water sprinkler system at around 2am.
Staff alerted the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), but the water put out the fire before they arrived.
Mr Lim said: "Water from the sprinkler system also went into neighbouring units and we mobilised our staff to clean up the affected stores."
He added that the store which caused the fire is currently closed for cleaning and safety checks, and that no one was hurt in the incident.
Staff who came to open shop from 10am onwards said they found the floors wet and their goods soaked.
Ms Anna Lam, 45, manager of beauty product store Beauty Language, said in Mandarin: "When I came at 11am, it was wet like a swimming pool."
Mr Ryan Abril, supervisor of clothing retailer Zoi, said that when he raised the store's shutters around 10am, they rose dripping water.
"The clothes hanging up were okay, but everything on the floor was all wet," said the 28-year-old, who estimated that around half of the goods at the outlet had seen water damage.
When The Straits Times arrived at 11.20am, most of the water had been cleaned up, although retail staff were still mopping up and separating wet goods from dry. The area was fenced off from shoppers.
A Watsons outlet within the stretch appeared to have experienced a blackout. Its staff declined to comment.
