SINGAPORE - An elderly man suffered scrapes and cuts after a concrete slab fell from the ceiling of his daughter's flat and landed just next to him.
The 80-year-old was staying over at his daughter's flat in Yishun Ring Road when the incident occurred on Friday (Jan 6), Shin Min Daily News reported on Sunday (Jan 8).
It was about 9pm, and he was using the toilet attached to the master bedroom in the flat.
As he stood up from the toilet bowl, a slab of concrete fell close to him, right in front of the basin, he told the Chinese evening daily.
It was so close that the slab slashed through his clothing and cut the side of his left knee. One of his toes was also injured.
"If I had walked to the basin one second earlier, it could have hit my head," he told Shin Min.
He has seen a doctor and received a tetanus jab as a precaution, he said.
His daughter said that the flat is more than 30 years old and has not undergone upgrading under the Home Improvement Programme.
She said that officers from the Housing & Development Board (HDB) have visited the flat to check the ceilings.
It is understood that pieces of concrete also fell from the unit's other toilet, and the kitchen ceiling has signs of unevenness.
There is spalling concrete in the master bedroom toilet of the flat but the structural integrity has not been affected, HDB said in a reply to Shin Min.
The flat owner has accepted HDB's subsidy to repair the spalling concrete under the Goodwill Repair Assistance Scheme. Under the scheme, the owner and HDB will share the cost of repair equally.
Spalling concrete is a common issue for older buildings, according to HDB's website. Steel bars embedded in the ceiling start to corrode after a long period of time, which in turn causes the concrete to crack and bulge.
If attended to quickly, the building's structural integrity will not be affected. However, it can spread and weaken the building structure if left unattended.
HDB also suggests opening the windows and doors in wet areas so that air can circulate, as humidity will hasten the spalling process.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/concrete-slab-falls-in-yishun-flat-cuts-elderly-mans-leg
