| Accident at Marina Bay construction site | |||||
| Explosions flung debris 50m away | |||||
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EVEN with the music blasting in his van, he heard a loud boom and saw a cloud of smoke at the Marina Bay area.
Curious, he muted the sound and rolled down his window. Moments later, Mr Azhari Alias, 25, heard another loud boom, louder than that of a thunderclap, he said. This was followed by five-storey-high flames and smoke. The civil servant was driving along the East Coast Parkway towards the Ayer Rajah Expressway when he heard the explosions at the Marina Bay area, where a lot of construction is taking place. The explosions were the result of several acetylene containers falling off a moving lorry, which was delivering the large cylinders to a construction site. Three racks containing 18 cylinders fell on the road next to a construction site. Five of these cylinders ruptured, resulting in a fire, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said. Acetylene, which is highly flammable, is used for welding among other things. Fortunately, no one was injured. The incident took place at about 2.40pm, at a side road off Central Boulevard leading to Marina Way.
Using two water jets, SCDF officers brought the fire under control within 10minutes. The deafening explosions rocked the area and sent workers in the vicinity scampering. The debris flew some 50m away in different directions. Bangladeshi assistant engineer Md Jahangir Alam Khan, 29, said he was in his site office when his colleague heard a loud sound and went out to check. Shortly after, Mr Md Jahangir, who works for Asia Pacific Engineering, heard something land on the office roof, giving him a shock. He ran out of the office and saw a big fire nearby. ‘I felt scared. I just ran fast until about 100m away,’ he said, saying that he heard about five explosions. The fire went up to as high as 15 to 20m every time there was an explosion, he said. Together with other supervisors, he informed the workers who were working underground, through walkie-talkie, to evacuate the area. Another worker, Mr Samsul Late Abdul Samad, 36, who was at another site about 100m away from the explosions, said he was in the midst of hoisting materials when he turned around and saw thick smoke. The lift technician from Kiong Siah Engineering said: ‘Two minutes later, I saw sparks and then there was a big explosion. The fire went up very high.’ He then ran to safety. The wooden boarding on the right side of the lorry – belonging to a company contracted by gas provider Soxal to deliver the cylinders – was damaged. A manager from Soxal, who gave his name only as Mr Tan, told The New Paper that the racks had fallen off while the driver was negotiating a bend. ‘(The driver) was probably driving too fast. He has a good record, but nobody is perfect.’ He said the driver, Mr Yong, a Singaporean in his 30s, had been with the company for over five years. He managed to get away before the cylinders exploded. The Ministry of Manpower said it is working with the SCDF and the police to investigate the incident. |
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