Four people taken to hospital after alleged PMD fire in Jurong West

Four people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a flat in Jurong West on Sunday evening (August 18).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to a fire on the fifth-floor unit of Block 158 Yung Loh Road at about 7.45pm and put out the fire with a water jet.

Passers-by on the scene added that it was a large fire, with an explosion in the midst of the burning.

Those on scene also alleged that the fire was started by a charging Personal Mobility Device (PMD) along the corridor, although this is unconfirmed.

Four people were taken to Singapore General Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

They included a woman who was rescued from a kitchen ledge by firefighters.

According to Chinese evening paper Lianhe Wanbao, the woman was on the ledge for about 20 minutes. Neighbours who saw her on the ledge notified firefighters while they were evacuating the building.

According to a few neighbours, a couple and their two sons lived in the unit that caught fire.

In a video of the fire circulating online, neighbours on the floor below were seen screaming and running to try to get to safety.

SCDF is still investigating the cause of the fire. -/TISG