Bukit Merah fire: Residents relocated to allow restoration works

Madam Yati was sleeping in her fourth-storey flat when the smell of something burning drifted in from outside and woke her up.

- Claudia Tan

Flinging the door to her one-room flat open, the 69-year-old woman saw that the corridor was engulfed in smoke.

She was one of four residents of Block 106 Jalan Bukit Merah who were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a fourth-floor unit at about 4pm on Aug 13.

The blaze took the lives of a 34-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, who were seen yelling for help through their flat window.

They were later found unconscious in the unit's kitchen by firefighters and subsequently died in hospital.

With this incident, the number of fire-related deaths so far in 2025 rose to eight, up from five in 2024 and three in 2023, according to Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) statistics.

The blaze is believed to have been caused by a personal mobility device (PMD) battery pack, SCDF said in a Facebook post on Aug 14.

SCDF said there have already been 20 such fires in the first half of 2025, up from 10 in the same period in 2024.

Speaking to ST while having lunch with her husband, Mr Mahmood Kadir, 70, at a coffee shop near her home, Madam Yati said she was thankful that she did not suffer any serious injuries.