SINGAPORE – As smoke engulfed their Joo Seng Road flat at about 9pm on May 4, a couple in their 80s called their daughter on the phone, desperate for help.
She told them to hide in the bathroom with the helper and wait for rescuers. She also notified her brother, who rushed over from his home in Springleaf.
Both children live in their own homes.
The couple’s son, Mr Ang Eek, said his parents and the helper were asleep when fire engulfed an 18th-floor unit directly below their flat at Block 14 Joo Seng Road.
“There was smoke all around. My father panicked and called my sister, who told them to hide in the toilet,” he recounted.
His parents were eventually rescued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
“My mum can’t walk, so I think (firefighters) had to carry her down to the void deck,” said Mr Ang, 57, who works in finance.
The Straits Times understands that the elderly couple were among eight people taken to Singapore General Hospital. All of them suffered smoke inhalation.
Potong Pasir MP Alex Yeo, who oversees the area, said in a Facebook post on May 4 that residents in the entire block were evacuated.
Preliminary findings by SCDF indicate the fire could have been intentionally started. A 44-year-old man was arrested at the scene for fire by mischief, said the police.
