A fire broke out at a laboratory at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on Friday (April 17) afternoon, resulting in one person being taken to the hospital.<\/p>\n
Netizens posted photos of several students and staff standing outside the building, as well as Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) vehicles at the scene.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A student at NTU’s School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) posted on Reddit that the fire alarm had gone off and they had been evacuated while doing an experiment at another lab.<\/p>\n
The Redditor made an update at 2.50pm, sharing: “The fire safety officer told us that the police and SCDF need to investigate the fire and we can go [home] first but we can’t go back into SPMS.”<\/p>\n
Another commenter said the fire occurred in a lab on the fourth level, adding: “Heard that a reaction went wrong and that’s how the fire started.”<\/p>\n
“Yeah, the lab staff also said something similar, and she said the chemical was explosive,” the student who made the post responded.<\/p>\n
Around another hour late, they added that they had been allowed back into the building.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In response to AsiaOne’s queries, the SCDF said that said it was alerted to the fire at 21 Nanyang Link, which is the address of the SPMS and School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology buildings, at around 1.50pm.<\/p>\n
They confirmed that the fire took place in a fourth-floor laboratory, and that it contained the contents inside a fume hood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was put out by a staff member on the premises with a fire extinguisher before SCDF arrived.<\/p>\n
One person was taken conscious to Singapore General Hospital, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, they added.<\/p>\n
According to The Straits Times, NTU shared that the “small, isolated fire” was put out by a member of the university’s Emergency Response Team.<\/p>\n
The person affected was a postgraduate student, who is being provided support by the university.<\/p>\n
AsiaOne has contacted NTU for comment.<\/p>\n
[[nid:733971]]<\/p>\n
drimac@asiaone.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n