1 dead, 2 seriously injured after explosion at Tuas incineration plant
Posted on 24 September 2021 | 3,479 views | 4 comments
Rosalind Ang, Jean Iau and Wallace Woon
The Straits Times
September 23, 2021 An explosion occurred at the Tuas Incineration Plant on Thursday (Sept 23), killing one man and injuring two others. A 65-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men, aged 59 and 64, had burn injuries and were taken to Singapore General Hospital. The three Singaporean workers were carrying out electrical maintenance work inside an electrical switchroom when the explosion occurred, said a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesman.
The incident at the plant in Tuas Avenue 20 took place at 3.15pm.
About 80 people evacuated themselves from the premises, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in a Facebook post on Thursday.
All other plant workers are safe, and operations at the plant have been safely wound down, said the National Environment Agency (NEA), which owns the plant.
The cause of the fire is being investigated, said the SCDF.
MOM, which is also investigating the incident, said it has instructed the occupier to stop all electrical maintenance work at the premises.
SCDF said that when it arrived, it found an electrical switchroom on the first storey smoke-logged and entered the premises with breathing apparatus sets to locate the fire.
It noted that the fire involved a chimney fan switch in the electrical switchroom.
SCDF said in a statement that its firefighters extinguished a few pockets of fire with two dry powder fire extinguishers.
When The Straits Times arrived at the scene at about 4.30pm, several police cars and at least six SCDF vehicles were spotted within the compound.
Other workers wearing helmets and dressed in light-blue uniforms were gathered outside the building. Police officers were seen speaking to some of them.
The Straits Times
September 23, 2021 An explosion occurred at the Tuas Incineration Plant on Thursday (Sept 23), killing one man and injuring two others. A 65-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men, aged 59 and 64, had burn injuries and were taken to Singapore General Hospital.
Workers wearing helmets and dressed in light-blue uniforms were seen gathered outside the building. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
Source:
The Straits Times
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