Restaurant near Mustafa Centre explodes, shophouse collapses

Oct 08, 2024 07:02 am

In a Facebook live stream at about 1am on Oct 8, netizen Qristal Adrianna can be heard saying an explosion had occured at a restaurant next to Mustafa Centre.

Paakashala Singapore, at 84 Syed Alwi Road, is a vegetarian restaurant with branches in India.

According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, they were alerted at about 1.30am to an incident involving two shophouse units at Syed Alwi Road that had partially collapsed.

SCDF conducted a search of the area to ascertain if anyone was trapped under the debris. Two search dogs and a drone were also deployed to augment the search operation.

Firefighters rescued a person from the second floor of the shophouse unit at No. 84. The person was unable to evacuate due to the blocked staircase.

As some passers-by had reportedly heard a loud blast during the incident, a firefighting machine was deployed as a precautionary measure, to disperse any potential build up of flammable gases using its water mist spray function.

There were glass shards scattered on the ground after the blast.

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No persons were found trapped under the debris.

Two persons were assessed by paramedics for minor injuries and taken to Singapore General Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Four other persons were also assessed for minor injuries but they declined to be taken to the hospital.

SCDF were still at the scene as at 7am.

In its Facebook post, the Building and Construction Authority wrote that its engineers were deployed on site to assess the structural integrity of the shophouse units and the adjacent buildings.

"The rear part of the two shophouse units have partially collapsed. The front façade and staircase of unit 84 were also damaged by the suspected explosion. The other adjacent buildings were not affected and are safe."

BCA engineers have instructed the owners to put in place immediate safety measures to cordon off the two units from public access.

BCA also served Dangerous Building Order and Closure Order to the respective owners of the two shophouse units to close off the buildings. They are required to immediately appoint a PE to advise on the immediate precautionary measures to obviate the danger, carry out detailed investigations and recommend permanent rectification measures to be carried out.