The Singapore Civil Defence Force posted a series of updates yesterday detailing the unfortunate events that left a 20-year-old worker dead during demolition works.
SCDF said they were alerted to the collapsed site at 1 Bernam Street on June 15 at around 2pm following a report that an Indian national worker was reported missing in the area that was undergoing demolition works.
“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of the worker who passed on yesterday,” SCDF wrote.
The force said after an “intensive” sweep of the site with the help of the area’s surveillance footage, high-tech rescue equipment and the force’s search canines, they spotted the worker pinned under the collapsed concrete at around 6pm. He had no pulse and was not breathing.
The operation, which had 11 SCDF emergency vehicles, 70 officers including rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team deployed, worked together to free him through the rubble that SCDF estimated to weigh about 50 tonnes.
After four grueling hours, they retrieved him and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
SCDF said that they continued their search operations through the night until 8am this morning even though all the workers have been accounted for.
The worker was employed under Aik Sun Demolition and Engineering at the site which is occupied by Woh Hup.
The Building and Construction Authority and the Ministry of Manpower have ordered the parties to halt all construction activities at the site.
Police have deemed the worker’s death as “unnatural” and are in the midst of investigations.
Singapore is no stranger to workplace fatalities. According to a report by MOM, workplace-related deaths last year went up to 46, up from 37 in 2021 and the highest number of fatalities since 2015.
The top two causes were workers falling from heights and vehicular-related incidents.
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