Garden wall at Woodlands corridor collapses after heavy rain

A garden wall located near Block 819 Woodlands Street 82 collapsed after a heavy downpour, at around 3pm on May 16.

Mr Xie, a 70-year-old resident who was staying on the ground floor of the block, told Lianhe Wanbao that he was asleep when the downpour occurred, when he suddenly heard a noise coming from outside his window.

Initially, Mr Xie thought that a cyclist had crashed into the items along the corridor, but the sight that greeted him when he opened the door left him stunned.

He saw that a piece of the red brick wall that surrounded the miniature garden outside his apartment had collapsed.

Some sand and shrubs had sank into the ground, while several potted plants placed along the wall were also damaged.

He later informed the town council of the incident and asked that they send someone to the scene.

Mr Xie, who moved into the estate in July 1989 and has already lived here for nearly three decades, said that the miniature garden was built by authorities about 15 years ago.

Mr Xie added: "Back then, there were two men from Malaysia who drove their car into the corridor while under the influence of alcohol.

"Hence, for the safety of residents and to avoid a repeat of such incidents, the authorities built this miniature garden."

Lianhe Wanbao reported that a shelter was built for the pedestrian walkway at the block nine months ago.

This meant that each time after a downpour, rainwater would flow from the shelter into the miniature garden, thus causing the mud there to become "wet and heavy".

"It has been raining a lot recently. The wet weather and the weight of the mud might be one possible reason why the wall collapsed," said Mr Xie.