A fire previously broke out on 27 February at an HDB flat in Pasir Ris; a 98-year-old man who lived there fell into a coma as a result of the fire, sustaining 1st-degree burns before dying on Wednesday (1 March), according to Shin Min Daily News.
The deceased’s daughter spoke to SMDN and said that her father had suffered 1st-degree burns and her 90-year-old mother was also in the hospital.
The fire had broken out on 27 February at about 8.30am, at Block 472 Pasir Ris Drive 6, with a witness saying that they saw smoke emanating from the unit where the elderly couple was living in.
The daughter said that her 98-year-old and 90-year-old parents were home at the time, getting ready to go to a care centre when the fire broke out in her father’s room.
Her mother also heard explosion sounds, and the elderly couple was rescued after neighbours alerted the authorities, with a neighbouring mother-son pair coming upstairs and knocking on their door to alert them.
She said that her father would use extension cords to charge the appliances at home.
The daughter added that her father couldn’t put out the fire because of his advanced age, suffered 1st-degree burns and fell into a coma.
He was warded in the ICU at SGH, having to rely on a ventilator to keep him alive, while the elderly woman was warded at CGH under observation.
However, he succumbed to his injuries after 2 days in the hospital and died on 1 March, with his children visiting the mortuary the next morning to collect his body.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force confirmed that they were alerted to the fire at Block 472 Pasir Ris Drive 6 on 27 February at about 8.45am, involving a bedroom unit on the 12th floor.
They conducted forced entry into the unit and put out the fire using a compressed air foam backpack, and 2 0people were rescued from the unit before being sent to CGH for smoke inhalation.
Preliminary investigation indicated that the fire was of electrical origin.