2 teenage girls rescued after sitting on 7th-storey carpark ledge in Toa Payoh for hours, apprehended under Mental Health Act
A pair of teenage girls, who were spotted sitting precariously on the seventh-storey ledge of a multi-storey carpark in Toa Payoh, were later rescued and apprehended under the Mental Health Act.
The incident happened at around 3pm on Aug 31 at a multi-storey carpark at Block 130, Lorong 1 Toa Payoh.
A nearby resident who declined to be named told Shin Min Daily News that at around 2pm, a cleaner passing by the carpark spotted the two girls sitting on the seventh-storey ledge with their legs dangling over the edge.
Worried that they might fall, the cleaner immediately called the police for help.
When Shin Min reporters arrived at the scene, one of the girls, dressed in a light blue top and white trousers with her hair tied in a ponytail, was still sitting on the ledge.
She was seen swinging her legs and looking down at her phone several times.
The other girl was no longer at the scene and is believed to have been persuaded to return to safety.
To ensure the girl’s safety, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel deployed an inflatable safety life air pack on the ground floor, while rescue personnel were stationed on the floors above and below the girl, ready to intervene.
Both girls taken to hospital, detained under Mental Health Act
In response to Stomp’s queries, SCDF said it received a call for assistance at about 3.15pm that day, after two persons were seen sitting on a seventh-floor ledge.
SCDF deployed nets and two safety life packs. Rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) were also on standby as a precautionary measure.
Two persons were conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
According to Shin Min, police officers spoke to the girl from inside the carpark, repeatedly urging her to move away from the ledge. Entrances to the carpark were also cordoned off to prevent members of the public from approaching the scene.
Police told Stomp that they were also alerted to the incident.
The two girls, aged 17 and 18, were conveyed conscious to the hospital and subsequently apprehended under the Mental Health Act.
Girls said they just wanted to sit on ledge
The two girls are understood to have said that they simply wanted to sit on the ledge, despite the safety risks.
A nearby resident, Ms Guo (transliterated), told reporters that the two girls had been sitting on the ledge and talking for about an hour.
Police later persuaded one of the girls to return to safety, while the other remained on the ledge.
At around 5.10pm, reporters witnessed three SCDF personnel deploy a safety net before jumping down from the eighth storey. Working together with rescue personnel inside the carpark, they managed to pull the girl away from the ledge and bring her to safety.
Nearby onlookers cheered when they saw that the girl was brought to safety.
Elderly woman offers to talk girl down
One elderly woman among the onlookers even offered to speak to the girl and tried to persuade her to leave the ledge.
The woman, who was attending an art class at a nearby senior activity centre and declined to be named, said about nine elderly women had been attending the class at the time.
After learning that a girl was sitting precariously on the ledge, the women became concerned for the girl’s safety and rushed out of the centre.
She said one woman in her 80s, became increasingly worried when the girl refused to leave the ledge.
The elderly woman then approached the police and volunteered to go upstairs to speak to the girl, hoping to persuade her to return to safety.
“She felt that because she was older, the girl might be willing to listen to her if she saw an elderly woman speaking to her.”
However, police did not allow the woman to approach the girl due to safety concerns.
The group could only wait anxiously downstairs, hoping that the girl would eventually be brought to safety.
“Later, the elderly woman could not bear to watch any longer, so she left,” the woman said.
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