Fire breaks
out at Lucky Plaza: No one injured
SINGAPORE: A fire broke out at a restaurant on Level 2 of Lucky
Plaza shopping centre around 1pm on Friday (Dec 18).
The blaze involved contents inside the restaurant's kitchen, as
well as ventilation ducts on Level 1. Eyewitnesses said they had
seen smoke coming out of Indonesian Ayam Penyet restaurant Warung
Surabaya.
A part-time worker from the restaurant who wanted to be
identified as Mr Soh said there were about 40 to 50 patrons in the
eatery at the time. The 40-year-old added that the fire started in
the kitchen exhaust fan and was "not visible". He added that his
boss is overseas and that the restaurant could probably re-open
over the weekend.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to
the incident at about 1.10pm, and sent two fire engines, two red
rhinos, an ambulance and five support vehicles to the scene. The
fire was extinguished with three water jets, SCDF said, adding that
no injuries were reported and that it is investigating the
incident.
According to eyewitness Jana Loh, the fire alarm in the mall
went off at 1.15pm. An announcement over the public address system
at the mall said all was under control, she said, but the SCDF
arrived shortly after and another announcement told shoppers to
evacuate using the stairs.
Mr Eric Tumewu, 31, general manager at Lucky Plaza optical shop
Koolook, said the scene was chaotic: "It was very crowded. The
smoke was very thick."
However, Mr Tumewu said there was no yelling or screaming by
shoppers, "only the management shouting at us to move out".
Heavy smoke was seen around the mall, as captured by several
social media users.
Water leaked from the second floor of the mall, causing puddles
to form on the first level as well.
Police declared the mall safe for public access again at around
3pm.
LOSSES COULD AMOUNT TO THOUSANDS FOR SHOPS
Shops near Warung Surabaya also suffered damage. Mr Wei Zhen,
26, the boss of travel agency Singapore Sharing Travel, said his
computer was spoilt and estimated total losses of “about S$4,000 or
S$5,000”. The carpet of the unit, which is located diagonally
opposite Warung Surabaya, was soaked with water when Channel
NewsAsia visited at 4.30pm.
The owner of a jewellery store located directly opposite of the
restaurant also expects his losses to amount to thousands of
dollars. Mr Tan Boon Chai, 49, owner of Boon Chai jewellery, said
jewellery boxes on the floor of his shop were damaged by the water.
A "good quality box" such as one from wristwatch brand Rolex, Mr
Tan said, would cost about S$200.
He said he first smelled smoke at 12.30pm and it was "so thick
it was hard to breathe".
- CNA/mz