Fire breaks
out in VivoCity shopping mall
SINGAPORE: A fire broke out at Japanese restaurant Shin Kushiya
at VivoCity shopping mall on Friday (Dec 22).
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted of the
incident at 11.35am.
The fire involved the kitchen exhaust duct in a restaurant on the
second floor of the mall, said SCDF.
It added that the fire was extinguished by the company's emergency
response team prior to their arrival. There were no reported
injuries and the cause of fire is under investigation, it
said.
Financial consultant Xtina Leong, 36, said her husband saw smoke
coming from the kitchen of Shin Kushiya restaurant, and that he had
reported this to SCDF.
A fire alarm near a toilet on the second floor started ringing
at around 11.40am, she said.
"We thought it was a false alarm at first, but when we smelt
something pungent and saw the smoke, we realised something was
wrong," she told Channel NewsAsia.
"Smoke and the smell is spreading - you can even smell it at the
end (of the mall), near HarbourFront Centre." The smell was so
pungent, it "caused irritation to our throats - so we didn't dare
go too near", she said.
Ms Leong also said people were crowding around taking pictures
and video of the scene instead of evacuating.
Plumes of white smoke were seen billowing from an area near the
Fish & Co. restaurant on the mall's second floor.
When Channel NewsAsia visited the scene past noon, the area had
been cordoned off and staff were seen mopping water off the floor
just outside the restaurant.
In an email to Channel NewsAsia, a spokesperson for Mapletree
Commercial Property Management, which manages the mall, said tenant
staff and members of the public near the incident were immediately
evacuated as a a precautionary measure while investigations were
ongoing.
"The incident has not affected the normal operations of the mall
and the surrounding area has since reopened for public access," she
added.
Source: CNA/nc/ad