Update: HDB will repair Bukit Merah home where concrete fell on boy
A 6-year-old boy was injured yesterday after a chunk of concrete fell onto his back as he was bathing, his mother told Coconuts Singapore today.
The incident happened as the boy was bathing with a cousin and playing with water when the concrete fell and injured him. The cousin managed to escape harm. Logistics assistant Nursyafiqah Safawi, 25, said she was watching television with her sister Tuesday afternoon in the living room when they heard screams from the toilet.
“I felt like something was not right, so I rushed to the toilet I saw my son’s body bleeding, and it had pieces of the concrete,” she said. “I saw the concrete already on the floor, so when I looked up, it [had] already dropped on him.”
Her son was then rushed to the National University Hospital where doctors performed an X-ray and dressed his wound. Fortunately, the cut wasn’t that deep, and he did not require stitches, Nursyafiqah said.
She said the incident at 93 Henderson Road happened at nearly 2pm. The town council was then called up and a man later arrived to fix the ceiling of the old flat, said to be built in 1975.
Nursyafiqah said that there were existing cracks in the toilet’s ceiling, and that the chunk of concrete fell after her son sprayed it with water from a hose. She said that the concrete had “quite a weight.”
She said that the issue with the cracks, which also affect the kitchen’s ceiling, was previously reported to the board.
HDB did not immediately respond to Coconuts Singapore’s online inquiries.
“The man also fixed the kitchen ceiling. He knocked the ceiling further and found more parts falling apart,” Nursyafiqah said.
Her photos shared online show the damaged ceiling, and blood on her son’s back.
“The worst nightmare for me and [especially] my son,” she wrote in a caption. “Happily playing with water end up, this. Concrete ceiling drop on his back.”
She also shared videos of a man fixing both ceilings.
“It has all been taken care of this afternoon right after the incident. I hope this wont happen again. Hopefully HDB takes action fast and serious regards to this kind of matter as it can brings death to anyone,” the caption said.
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