One dead in fire at Telok Blangah Crescent

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/burnt-body-found/1425152.html

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A burnt body was found in a Housing and Development Board (HDB) unit at Telok Blangah Crescent on Monday (Oct 20) morning, following a fire in the living room.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the fire at 7.14am. Firefighters had to force open the door to gain access and, upon entering, found the burnt body.

The burnt body was of a 77-year-old man, according to a police spokesperson, who added he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Residents from the eighth to tenth floor were evacuated by SCDF and police as a precautionary measure. Two residents – a male in his 30s and an elderly female in her 80s – were also sent conscious to the hospital due to breathlessness.

SCDF said they extinguished the fire within five minutes, using a water jet. It had dispatched two fire bikes, two fire engines, two ambulances, a red rhino and a support vehicle to the scene.

Neighbours told Channel NewsAsia that the victim, Mr Teo Leng Soon, had lived in the flat for about twenty years. They said he kept to himself and seemed frail.

At about 7am, some residents said they saw smoke coming from the flat. They called the SCDF when there was no response after knocking on the door.

Mr Mohd Fahmi Shaik said: "I knocked on the door, and I called out to the man and I heard a sound like someone struggling, like 'Ahh!'. I asked him to open the door, but he couldn't open it ... "