SINGAPORE - Five workers were injured in an industrial accident that caused the partial collapse of a wall at a factory building in Bukit Batok on Monday (Sept 11).
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post at 11.43am that it responded to the incident at Enterprise Centre, located at 20 Bukit Batok Crescent, at around 11am.
In a subsequent update at 1pm, it said five injured workers have been taken to hospital.
The Straits Times understands that the explosion originated from an industrial boiler housed in a unit on the 11th floor.
The accident caused "significant damage" within the building's premises. There was no fire and no one was trapped.
Ms Valerie Ong, an account manager at an IT firm who works in the building directly opposite Enterprise Centre, told The Straits Times that she first heard a loud explosion at around 11am.
"The glass windows and furniture in my office were vibrating slightly. At first I thought it was thunder but only realised later that it was a real explosion," said Ms Ong, who is in her 20s. "There was smoke coming out of several damaged windows."
She added that she saw office workers evacuating from the building shortly after the explosion.
An eyewitness working in Enterprise Centre told citizen journalism website Stomp that the explosion took place in a neighbouring unit. Photos she sent to Stomp showed parts of a wall and ceiling badly damaged, with debris strewn all over a car parked outside the unit.
Mr Li, a labourer in the Tung Lok Restaurants unit on the same floor, said he was startled by the explosion even though he was four units away.
"When the police came they told us to evacuate and we only were allowed back in after 12pm," he added.
Madam Joanne Sim, who runs a claypot stall in the building's canteen on the ground floor, said her business was affected as she had to turn off the gas.
"We were cooking halfway and only my sesame chicken was ready," Madam Sim said.
SCDF dispatched a fire engine, three Red Rhinos, three ambulances and three support vehicles to the scene.
Investigations are ongoing.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapo...n-bukit-batok-after-wall-collapses-reports-of
