SINGAPORE — Residents living near the scene of a Yishun flat fire last Saturday (June 10) night that left a 17-year-old youth dead have described hearing what sounded like a loud explosion similar to a car crash as the blaze erupted.

One of the witnesses, Mr Davian Kho, 22, told TODAY that the explosion prompted him to run to his window where he saw a huge fire coming out of a unit on the 12th floor of Block 783 Yishun Ring Road, opposite Block 781 where he lived.

He said that “the explosion was as loud as construction noise (and) the sound of debris falling was very noticeable”.

Mr Kho immediately called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and then noticed residents evacuating from the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th floors of Block 783.

Mr Kho could see a man running around the 11th floor, getting people out of the building.

“I tried my best, (but) there was nothing much else I could do from my home,” Mr Kho said.

Numerous witnesses told TODAY that the fire, which happened at about 8.45pm, was put out in a matter of minutes.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, SCDF said that when fire-fighting personnel arrived at the scene, the fire was raging inside the flat. Firefighters had to enter the smoke-filled flat by force.

Inside, they found an unconscious person who was carried out of the flat by firefighters, who took him to the ground floor where cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed. He was then taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

"About 50 residents were evacuated as a result of the fire," SCDF said.

Two of those evacuated told TODAY that evacuation procedures were relatively calm and orderly, even though many residents were confused and stunned by the fire.

In all, 10 witnesses interviewed by TODAY reported hearing the sound of an explosion, including three who lived on floors nine to 12 of Block 783 and five who lived on floors eight to 11 of Block 781.

Ms Kin Leong, an 11th-floor resident of Block 783 living almost directly below the unit where the fire occurred, said that people from Block 781 were shouting across their balconies, alerting those in Block 783 to the fire.

She described hearing a loud whirring sound that kept getting louder for a few seconds, resembling the noise of a kettle about to boil.

This was followed by an explosion, “which initially made me think there was a car crash downstairs”, Ms Leong told TODAY.

She said that her neighbour who lives in the adjacent unit to hers, which is directly below the unit where the fire erupted, could feel the vibration caused by the explosion inside her own house.

Ms Rui Han and her mother living in the opposite block agreed with Ms Leong’s description, adding that the car crash-like noise “was the breaking of glass windows from the house”.

Her mother said that she “heard loud noises from (firefighters) trying to pry open the metal gate with a saw of sorts”.

Ms Agnes Lee who lives on the 10th floor of Block 781 said that “many people gathered along the corridor at night, and the fire was so big that the smoke transmitted to our block and everyone advised each other to shut their windows”.

“When you experience fire (in) real life or it happens near you, it's very scary,” Ms Lee said.

Ms Leong said: “When I heard the noise, I didn’t expect it to be related to any form of fire, so this was just unreal.”

A wake was held on Monday for the 17-year-old youth who died. His family requested privacy and declined requests for media interviews.