SINGAPORE - A 49-year-old woman, who was rescued after she was found floating face down in the Singapore River near the Marina Bay area on Monday (May 16), has died.

A police spokesman, in response to media queries, said the woman died in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) on Tuesday (May 17).

The New Paper reported that German Michael Rosch, who had been on a morning walk in the area, had first alerted the authorities when he noticed a figure floating in the water at about 11.20am on Monday.

Mr Rosch, who works in Singapore as an information systems engineer, had been walking on the Helix Bridge in the direction of Marina Bay Sands and said he was shocked to see the figure face down and motionless.

"I initially thought that she was a tourist who went down to the docks to take a picture and fell in," he told the paper.

"I was shocked to learn (later) that she was a local."

It was not clear how she ended up in the water.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident and dispatched a fire engine, a red rhino, two fire bikes, two support vehicles and an ambulance to the scene.

SCDF firefighters then swam out and brought the woman - who had no pulse and was not breathing - to shore, said a spokesman.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on her in the ambulance on the way to SGH, and The Straits Times understands that she had shown some signs of life.

Police investigations are ongoing.