68YO S’porean Man Found Dead In Cluttered Bedok North Flat

On Saturday night, 28 September, the body of a 68-year-old Singaporean man was found in his deeply cluttered flat at Block 519, Bedok North Avenue 1.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, more than 10 loads of clutter had to be gotten rid of first before the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers could reach him.

So, what happened?

No Sightings Of The Man For Past 2 Weeks

A 50-year-old neighbour of the man named Chen told Zaobao that the man often brought home the ‘trash’ he found on the streets, and the town council would usually send people to his flat once every week to assist in decluttering his house.

However, Chen found it odd that he hadn’t seen the man for close to two weeks and there was no trash accumulated outside his flat.

It became weirder when he and other neighbours started noticing a distinct but strange smell coming from the flat since the previous morning. When it reached nighttime, the smell had become worse.

That was when they decided to inform the police.

Arriving At The Scene

A neighbour who wished to remain anonymous said that when the officers kicked the man’s door down, they could only see piles of trash stacked on top of one another.

The piles of trash filled the flat in all areas to the brim and included plastic containers, plastic bags, cardboard and different types of furniture.

Officers could only reach the decomposing body of the man after a long two-hour decluttering with the help of cleaners from the town council.

Cause Of Death

According to Zaobao, the man reportedly suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure before he passed away.

A neighbour also claimed that the man seemed to be much thinner than before since a year ago, but was unsure of the cause of his death.

According to Mothership’s confirmation with the police, paramedics pronounced the man to be dead upon arriving at the scene.

His death is currently ruled as unnatural and police investigations are ongoing.

Here is the police statement in full:

“On 28 September 2019 at 9.17pm, the Police were alerted to a case of unnatural death at Blk 519 Bedok North Avenue 1. A 68-year-old man was found motionless and was pronounced dead by paramedics at scene. Police investigations are ongoing.”

Whatever it is, we hope that the man now rests in peace.