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Exams, medical studies disrupted by fire at NUS building, 1,000 people evacuated

SINGAPORE — About 1,000 people were evacuated from the Centre for Translational Medicine, also known as Block MD6, at the National University of Singapore (NUS) after a fire broke out in the building on Tuesday morning (March 26).

The scene outside Block MD6, which houses the Centre for Translational Medicine at the National University of Singapore. A fire broke out in a laboratory there on March 26, 2019, but it was put out before the Singapore Civil Defence Force arrived.

The scene outside Block MD6, which houses the Centre for Translational Medicine at the National University of Singapore. A fire broke out in a laboratory there on March 26, 2019, but it was put out before the Singapore Civil Defence Force arrived.

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SINGAPORE — About 1,000 people were evacuated from the Centre for Translational Medicine, also known as Block MD6, at the National University of Singapore (NUS) after a fire broke out in the building on Tuesday morning (March 26).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a statement that it was alerted to a fire at 14 Medical Drive at about 11.10am.

Contents of a freezer room were part of the fire, which was extinguished by the sprinkler system before SCDF’s personnel arrived.

SCDF added that there were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

When contacted, NUS said that a “small fire broke out at the WIL@NUS Corporate Laboratory”.

The SCDF was alerted immediately and users of the building were evacuated.

“No one was hurt in the fire. The safety of students and staff remains our top priority. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation,” its spokesperson said.

Mr Troy Lam, 22, was due to take a nursing practical exam in the building at 11.30am but he had to evacuate. He was later informed through a phone text message from the school that the exam had been postponed by two hours.

“The longer I waited for the start of the exam, the more nervous I felt, but thankfully the exam went smoothly thanks to the clear instructions by our faculty,” the first-year nursing student said.

Miss Corrie Teo, 20, a nursing student, told TODAY that about 300 students were due to take the Comprehensive Health Assessment practical examinations from about 8am to 5.30pm on Tuesday.

Miss Teo and her friends had finished their examinations, which took place on the fourth floor. They were waiting in a holding area, a lecture theatre on the first floor, while the rest of their course-mates were either taking the examination or waiting to take it, when the fire alarm sounded.

“Everyone was evacuated to a field about 300m to 400m away and waited there for about 30 minutes to an hour, and those who were taking their examinations when the alarm rang had their examinations postponed to later in the day,” she said

Undergraduate Aaron Liau, 24, was taking part in a medical study on the seventh floor of the building when the fire alarm rang.

He told TODAY that there were two fire alarms — one that came with an announcement that there was a fire, and a second one five minutes later with an announcement to evacuate the building.

“I had an intravenous cannula (a needle with a plastic tube over it, inserted into a vein) in my arm when the second alarm rang. I had to climb down seven floors of stairs with it, so it was quite shocking for me,” he said.

“The stairs were packed with people and I took about 20 minutes to reach the evacuation point because part of the route was a narrow walkway by the road and only one person could walk through it at a time.”

Mr Liau believed that there were other medical studies disrupted by the fire.

His study group was moved to another building and the session was cancelled later because some of the materials and equipment needed were only available in the original building.

First-year medical student Mark Yeo, 21, who stopped by at a cafe on the ground floor of the building, thought it was a false alarm at first. The cafe was still serving food and he went to buy some.

“It was only when I saw the whole group of nursing students walking hurriedly out of the lecture hall that I realised that the fire alarm was real,” he said.

“I am glad that no one is harmed. Even if you are a doctor or nurse, you can’t always protect yourself, so you have to learn to take care of yourself as well.”  

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