Girl, 10, dies after fire breaks out at River Valley shophouse

21 others, including 15 children, injured; members of public help SCDF in rescue

- Ian Cheng Correspondent and Joakim Kang

A girl died and 21 other people were injured after a fire broke out at a shophouse in River Valley Road on April 8.

The 10-year-old girl died after she was taken to the hospital, said the police. The 22 casualties comprised six adults aged between 23 and 55, and 16 children aged between six and 10, they added.

The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to a fire at 278 River Valley Road at about 9.45am.

A check by The Straits Times shows that this is the listed address of Tomato Cooking School, which runs cooking lessons and camps for children.

When SCDF officers arrived at the scene, a fire was raging on the second and third floors of the three-storey shophouse, the SCDF said in a Facebook post.

"Members of the public, including construction workers, used metal scaffolding and a ladder to reach those stranded and brought a number of them to safety," it added.

SCDF officers deployed ladders to rescue the rest of those stranded on a ledge, while firefighters proceeded to the second and third floors.

The fire was extinguished within 30 minutes using three water jets.

About 80 people from the affected shophouse and nearby premises were evacuated.

A Building and Construction Authority (BCA) spokesperson said its engineers conducted an inspection of the premises after the fire was put out and found that the building's structural integrity was not affected.

The fire did not affect the neighbouring buildings and these remain safe for occupancy, said the spokesperson.