60-year-old dies, two rescued after fire erupts in Whampoa flat

200 people evacuated in early morning blaze, which sees third fire fatality in 2024

- Sarah Koh and Nadine Chua

A 60-year-old man died after a fire broke out in a Whampoa Housing Board flat in the early hours of May 6.

This is the third reported fire fatality in 2024, equalling the number of deaths for the whole of 2023.

In a Facebook post on May 6, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at Block 76 Lorong Limau at around 2.30am.

The fire was raging inside a unit on the sixth storey and firefighters had to force their way in, said SCDF.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic after being found inside one of the bedrooms.

Two others were rescued by firefighters from the utility room in the kitchen area and taken to Singapore General Hospital (SGH), said SCDF.

The police said the dead person was a 60-year-old man, and the two people taken conscious to SGH were women aged 60 and 77.

MP for Jalan Besar GRC Heng Chee How said in a Facebook post that the two people taken to hospital were the man's family members.