In a serene neighborhood Tiong Bahru, a recent incident involved the apparent collapse of a tree, which came crashing down onto the roof of a nearby shophouse that resulted in a gas leak.
Efforts to clear the debris were underway, with personnel from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) present at the scene, along with workers.
Tree uprooted
On the 30th of June, an image shared online depicted the fallen tree, which had toppled from a nearby slope after being uprooted, presumably from the rain. The sizeable shrub had landed directly on a neighboring building, causing damage to a section of its roof.
A post shared online in the Tiong Bahru Estate Facebook group stated that the incident purportedly occurred at 82 Tiong Poh Road.
The photos showed the presence of an SCDF fire engine and officers examining the scene. Police tape cordoned off the affected area, and an officer was observed overseeing the operations conducted by the SCDF.
No ambulance vehicles were seen in the provided photographs, suggesting no reported injuries resulting from the incident.
The SCDF confirmed receiving a call for assistance at 82 Tiong Poh Road around 5:30 pm on June 30th. Upon arrival, the firefighters detected the presence of combustible gas on the building’s second floor that indicated a gas leak at the premises.
They identified the source to be from a gas pipeline and then turned off the gas supply to prevent any potential combustion.
No injuries or casualties were also reported from the incident.
Similar incidents
In August last year, a tree had reportedly fallen at Ulu Pandan Community Centre, pinning two people under the tree while another victim was found injured nearby.
All three victims were conscious when sent to the hospital and are in stable condition, according to Channel NewsAsia.
The SCDF said that they were alerted to the unfortunate incident at about 6pm, at 170 Ghim Moh Road.
Officers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team were deployed and they had to lower themselves down a slope and went through the vegetation in order to reach the victims.
Two persons were found trapped under the large tree, with another person found injured nearby.
SCDF officers immediately began rescuing the victims after ensuring the fallen tree was stable and used cutting equipment to reach the two that were trapped.
Medical personnel were also on-site to monitor the victims’ vital signs, and K9 search dogs were also deployed to make sure there weren’t any other trapped victims nearby.
The incident is currently being investigated by Ulu Pandan Community Club, who is working to establish the facts of the incident.