Rescuers had to force their way into cluttered bedroom

Flat had accumulation of combustible items; child’s mother in hospital in critical condition

- Jessie Lim and Shermaine Ang

Three people, including a threeyear-old, died in a fire that broke out in the living room of a flat in Bedok North yesterday morning.

When Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel arrived at the fourth-floor flat at about 6.40am, they found four unconscious people in the unit which had a vast accumulation of combustible items, it said in a Facebook post.

The toddler and mother, 34, and a man, 35 – occupants of the unit in Block 409 Bedok North Avenue 2 – were taken to hospital unconscious.

The man and the toddler died of their injuries in hospital, the police said. The mother remains in critical condition. Another occupant, a 56-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Tan Kiat How, Minister of State for Communications and Information and for National Development, said that five people lived in the affected unit. They were a couple and three tenants – comprising another couple and a toddler.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The SCDF put out the fire in the living room with a water jet. It found the 56-year-old woman in the living room, while the mother, toddler and man were found in a bedroom.