10-year-old girl dies after fire at River Valley shophouse

SINGAPORE: A 10-year-old girl died on Tuesday (Apr 8) after a fire broke out at a shophouse at River Valley Road where education and enrichment classes for children are conducted.

Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam confirmed the fatality during his address at Changi Airport to welcome home the Operation Lionheart contingent that returned from quake rescue efforts in Myanmar. 

The police said in a statement on Tuesday evening that a total of 22 people - six adults and 16 children - were taken to hospitals after the fire. 

The adults were aged between 23 and 55, while the children were aged between six and 10.

The police said the 10-year-old girl later died at one of the hospitals.

"Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play. Police investigations are ongoing."

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the incident at 278 River Valley Road at about 9.45am.

Videos posted on social media show children sitting on a third-storey ledge as plumes of black smoke billow.

The three-storey building houses several educational classes for children, including a cooking school, a theatre group and a robotics school.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, the blaze was raging on the second and third floors.

Bystanders, including some construction workers, were seen climbing scaffolding in an attempt to rescue them.

"Members of the public, including construction workers, used a metal scaffolding and a ladder to reach those stranded and brought a number of them to safety," SCDF said in a Facebook post.

Rescue ladders and a combined platform ladder were deployed to rescue the rest of the stranded people on the ledge, while firefighters proceeded to the second and third floors to fight the fire.

The fire was extinguished with three water jets within 30 minutes.

About 80 people in the shophouse and nearby premises were evacuated by the police and SCDF. Twenty casualties were taken to hospital, SCDF said at the time.

According to a CNA eyewitness, the last person to be rescued – who he believes was a teacher – was seen distressed and crying as she was carried out of the building on a stretcher.

The bystander, who only wanted to be known as Will, said that he saw several women crying and asking the police about the safety of their children. The police then guided the women to a separate area to assist them further.

"The police and firefighters did an incredible job in putting the fire out, saving the kids and teachers and keeping everyone nearby calm," Will said.

Another eyewitness said that police had blocked off the road outside the affected building to assist firefighting operations.

Mr Ray Ow said he was on Bus 195 at about 10.30am when all passengers were asked to disembark.

There were "10 plus buses on both sides of the road on both entrances", he said, adding that police officers were on the scene guiding the buses to U-turn.

Mr Ow said he saw children wearing oxygen masks in an ambulance near the area. Although the fire had mostly been extinguished, there was still a faint burning smell in the air.

Plumes of smoke could also be seen from the Suntec area. 

A CNA reader who did not want to be identified captured the trail of smoke as seen from the ninth floor of Tower 3 at Suntec City.

KK Women's and Children's Hospital said in a statement that it received casualties from the incident.

"Our immediate priority is to provide urgent medical care to these patients and to lend support to the caregivers," said Associate Professor Sashikumar Ganapathy, who is the head and senior consultant of the hospital's department of emergency medicine. 

According to media reports out of India, the son of Indian political party leader Pawan Kalyan was among those injured.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the JanaSena Party said the boy sustained injuries to his hands and legs and "faced breathing difficulties as smoke entered his lungs".

The boy, identified by Indian media as Mark Shankar, was rushed to hospital and is receiving treatment.

Mr Pawan, who is also an actor, will travel to Singapore after completing his earlier commitments, the party said.

A report by the Times of India included a photo of the affected shophouse with SCDF vehicles on the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

"We would like to thank the members of the public who assisted in the rescue of the stranded persons for their quick actions and bravery," said SCDF.

An inspection of the premises by the Building and Construction Authority's (BCA) engineers after the fire showed that the structural integrity of the shophouse was not affected. 

"The fire did not affect the neighbouring buildings, which remain safe for occupancy," it said in a statement to CNA on Tuesday night. 

As a precautionary measure, BCA has ordered the building owner to close off the affected building and appoint a professional engineer to carry out a detailed investigation and recommend rectification works.

Editor's note: The age of the girl who died has been corrected after the Ministry of Home Affairs clarified the information that was originally provided.