Loud crash reported by Pasir Ris residents as cladding falls off HDB block; no injuries reported

SINGAPORE — Ms Ye Ruo Shi, 45, was at her Pasir Ris flat with her three-month-old baby on Monday morning (June 18) when she heard a loud crash. The noise, which she described as “too loud to be thunder”, startled her child, who woke up crying.

When Ms Ye and her neighbours went to investigate the source of the noise, they found that a large piece of decorative cladding had become dislodged and fallen nine storeys from the top of their Housing and Development Board (HDB) block — Block 270 at Pasir Ris Street 21.

“It was the kind of noise that made you jump… our neighbours came out of the house and pointed to the scene below,” said Ms Ye, who is an artist.

She subsequently posted a photo of the mangled cladding and debris online.

According to witnesses, the incident had occurred at around 11.20am, with the police arriving shortly after to cordon off the area. No injuries were reported.

Domestic worker Yeni Susanti, 30, had also witnessed the incident from the flat opposite Block 270. She told TODAY that the skies were dark, and there were “strong winds” during the incident, though it was not raining at the time.

A number of residents expressed concerns about safety following the incident, particularly as the cladding had fallen during midday.

Language teacher Syafii Saadon, 34, who lives on the second storey of Block 270, said he was initially afraid that “someone was trapped” under the debris.

“Sometimes my children go down there and play with their bicycles,” said Mr Syafii, who has two young children.

A 66-year-old resident, who only wanted to be known as Mr Lee, said he “normally cuts through (the site of the incident) when he goes to the mall”. The retiree added that he plans to avoid the area in the future. 

Mr Quek Yee Khian, 48, manager of a construction company, was in the closest unit to the cladding as he lives on the eighth floor. He had contacted the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and HDB, but he said he had not received a reply from the parties after a four-hour wait. 

“At least brief me about something, whether it’s safe to stay in, what to look out for,” he said.

This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred in an HDB estate. In September 2016, the concrete sunshade of a flat in Tampines Street 23 dislodged on one side and crashed onto the sunshade directly below. The Tampines Town Council said then that it would engage an engineer to inspect all HDB blocks in the area with a similar architectural facade.

Responding to queries from TODAY, the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and the HDB said in a joint statement that they were notified that “a piece of decorative cladding had dislodged from the facade” of Block 270 at about noon on Monday.

“The panel is part of the facade design and is non-structural. The building is structurally safe,” said the joint-statement.

“Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council will be carrying out the necessary repairs. The Town Council will also take additional precautionary safety measures by checking the neighbouring blocks with similar facade features. The Town Council has cleared the debris and cordoned off the ground floor area beneath the affected facade.”

Mr Zainal Sapari, Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, also posted photos of the incident on Facebook on Monday.

He told TODAY that the town council had immediately sent officers and HDB staff to conduct a site inspection after the incident. A professional engineer will also be conducting checks on blocks with similar cladding, he added.