A 20-year-old Singaporean man, who is a full-time national serviceman (NSF) serving with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) at Tampines Fire Station as a firefighter, reportedly went missing in Pulau Ubin, according to Lianhe Zaobao.
The NSF, who was off duty at the time when he visited Pulau Ubin, has reportedly been missing since Friday (14 April), and a search for him is currently ongoing.
Zaobao reported that a resident living on the island, 65-year-old Mr Wang Yuan Qian, said that a friend of the missing man had gone near the pier to seek help at about 7 pm that day.
Wang heard from the missing man’s family and friends that he might have gone swimming in the lake at Kekek Quarry and was believed to have jumped over the fence surrounding the lake to gain access to it.
Pythons and crocodiles
Making matters worse, the missing man also reportedly didn’t have his mobile phone with him at the time, and it was also raining in the area from about 5 pm to 7 pm.
Zaobao reported that Kekek Quarry, which is situated on the northern side of Pulau Ubin, is about 40 metres deep and infested with pythons and crocodiles.
It is also about 40 minutes away from the Pulau Ubin pier by bicycle, or about a 1.5-hour walk away.
Search still ongoing
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they received a call for help on 15 April at about 2.10 am in the morning, and water rescue assistance was requested at the quarry but when rescuers arrived, they couldn’t find the missing man.
A visual search from the shore was then conducted by the SCDf, and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was also used by officers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) to search under the water of the lake.
At the time of writing, the search for the missing 20-year-old is still ongoing.
Images source: Google Maps and Unsplash