Shoppers evacuate Tampines Mall after fire breaks out in fourth-floor store
Vihanya Rakshika The Straits Times December 27, 2023
Shoppers were asked to evacuate Tampines Mall at around 9.30pm on Dec 27, following a fire in one of its stores on the fourth floor.
The atrium within the mall was observed to be hazy in videos posted on Facebook.
The mall’s alarm sounded at around the same time. Among those forced to leave the mall was shopper Larry Hoo, 34, who told The Straits Times he saw smoke coming out from X-Craft, a street fashion store.
Mr Hoo was on the mall’s fourth floor – the same level X-Craft is on – when he was made to evacuate by the mall’s security guards.
Smoke was observed coming out of the fourth floor of Tampines Mall on Dec 27. ST PHOTO: KENNETH CHENG
Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers were seen standing outside X-Craft in a video shared with ST. A mall employee was observed blocking access to the fourth floor and asking shoppers to leave. She declined to confirm if the fire originated from X-Craft.
At around 9.45pm, ST observed two SCDF vehicles leaving the vicinity of the mall.
At around 9.50pm, shoppers were observed heading back to the mall and shop employees were seen returning to their stores.
In response to queries from ST, the SCDF said it was alerted to a fire at the mall at about 9.20pm on Dec 27.
It added that the fire involved an electrical socket and wires in a unit on the fourth floor.
“Members of the public extinguished the fire using two dry powder fire extinguishers prior to SCDF’s arrival at the mall,” the spokesman said.
There were no reported injuries in the incident. SCDF said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
- Additional reporting by Kenneth Cheng
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