Five people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in an HDB flat in Little India on Monday, 3 August.
All five had been trapped inside the fifth-storey unit at Block 684 Race Course Road.
Three of them were found unconscious.
Five People Were Trapped Inside the Flat
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the fire at about 7:10pm.
When firefighters arrived, a bedroom in the flat was on fire. The blaze was extinguished using a water jet.
One of the five trapped occupants was rescued by police officers, while SCDF personnel rescued the remaining four.
Three people were taken to Singapore General Hospital, while the other two were taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
SCDF did not say whether the three unconscious victims were sent to the same hospital.
As of 2:00am on 4 August, no official update on the five victims’ conditions had been released.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Several of the Victims Were Elderly
The Straits Times reported that four of the victims were in their 70s and 80s, while the fifth was over 50.
Jalan Besar GRC MP Denise Phua, who arrived at the scene at about 8:00pm, also said that several of the victims were above 70.
Temporary accommodation was arranged for a family member from the affected unit who returned home later.
Town council staff also helped to clean and clear the area, while care packs were distributed to residents.
Thick Black Smoke Spread to Nearby Flats
Residents interviewed by The Straits Times said thick black smoke began pouring from the unit within minutes.
One resident living in the opposite block said the affected flat’s door remained closed, leading him to believe that people were still trapped inside.
Another resident said smoke entered her family’s sixth-storey flat and made it difficult for them to breathe. Police officers subsequently knocked on their door and told them to evacuate.
A separate sixth-storey resident said the smoke rapidly worsened, prompting him to carry his cat downstairs without taking any other belongings.
When reporters arrived at about 9:45pm, a police cordon remained in place and several SCDF vehicles were still at the scene.
Residential Fires Increased in 2025
SCDF responded to 2,050 fires in 2025, an increase of 3 per cent from the previous year.
Of these, 1,051 occurred at residential premises, up from 968 in 2024.
Unattended cooking and electrical faults remained the two leading causes of residential fires.
There were 94 fire-related injuries and six fire fatalities recorded in 2025.
SCDF advises residents to alert others and call 995 when a fire breaks out. People evacuating a building should use the exit staircases and should not use the lifts.
