Witnesses Describe Horrific Scene of Tuas Industrial Building Fire

2021’s just begun; a year which everyone hoped would be able to change the tide of the crises wrecked upon the world in 2020.

Unfortunately, February’s seeing a spate of accidents occurring as of late.

Besides the influx of traffic accidents, workplace-related accidents have also seen an “extremely alarming” spike as described by Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad, following the deaths of at least seven workers this month alone.

The latest incident to join this list is the fire that broke out at an industrial building in Tuas, which happened on Wednesday (24 Feb). Ten people were taken to hospital following severe burns, two of which were workers in another company.

Victims Were Burnt, Disoriented And Screaming

Curious as we are about the origins of such a serious accident, more witnesses present at the scene have come forward to recount what they saw of the incident.

35-year-old Mr Islam Ruhul suddenly heard an explosion coming from a nearby workshop while he was working and immediately rushed to the unit’s back entrance.

There, he saw a man who had been badly burnt and was disoriented, with some parts of his clothes set ablaze.

With the use of a penknife, Mr Islam, who works for construction company Swees-Tech Engineering, helped the man to cut off those burnt shreds of clothing after moving him away from the vicinity of the explosion.

The explosion which took place at about 11am originated from the Stars Engrg unit in Platinum @ Pioneer, located at 32E Tuas Avenue 11.

According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Stars Engrg engages in the business of fire protection, rather ironically.

The owner of Swees-Tech Engineering, Mr John Tan, also recalled being in his office at the time of the explosion. Upon hearing the sound, he and his workers rushed to evacuate the victims.

“Some of them ran out screaming, but they lost their (sense of) direction,” Mr Tan said.

There were flames in the unit and smoke emanating out from it, as well as pieces of burnt cardboard outside the unit that had been blasted out by the fire, he added.

Other Workers Came To Help Too

Dormitories for workers were established in the building as well as the buildings nearby, and there were only less than 20 workers staying there at the time of the explosion.

Mr Miah Md Likhon, 24, Mr Hossin Shakil, 24, and Mr Hridoy Md Reyaz Uddin, 22, were among those who came to help, having rushed down from their dormitory in the building next door.

Mr Miah recounted that the three took water and poured it on the victims.

Another worker, Mr Sardar Nazmul, 32, was in the dormitory located in the unit just next door and came out to investigate.

Like something one might see in a movie, some of the victims were bleeding from the soles of their feet, while some faced more severe injuries like skin peeling from their faces, he recalled.

The unit opposite Stars Engrg is currently held by mechanical engineering company P3 Project. Owner Mr Wong Wee Chiang, 45, said that upon hearing the explosion, he and his staff evacuated from the area.

Unfortunately, two of his workers sustained minor injuries from the explosion as well. One of them had burnt his hands and buttocks, while another was knocked to the ground by the blast’s impact.

Mr Wong took both of them to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital before the SCDF arrived.

Let this serve as another reminder to maintain workplace safety and to not take any risks, for playing with fire might get you burned.

Feature Image: Facebook (Singapore Civil Defence Force)