A fire broke out on 6 September at a HDB flat at Bedok North, while the family was at a funeral of a family member downstairs.
Shin Min Daily News reported hat the fire took place on 6 September at about 1.30pm, at Block 201 Bedok North Street 1.
The affected HDB unit on the 4th storey was inhabited the deceased family member, her son Mr Wu, their maid and another tenant.
The family was attending to Wu’s mother’s funeral downstairs (she had passed away the day before), when joss papers used to cover up an altar purportedly fell onto a burning candle, according to Wu.
An elderly neighbour rushed down with her walking stick to tell the family about the fire, and Wu’s brother-in-law then ran up to the home and saw the unit in flames.
He then heard an explosion as he was about to enter the unit, followed by the sounds of glass breaking, and a wave of heat then overwhelmed him and he was left with no choice but to close the door.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force later arrived and put out the fire with a water jet, and preliminary investigations showed that the cause of the fire was an open flame that was left unattended in the living room.
No injuries were reported in the unfortunate incident.