They just managed to duck out of burning coffee shop

They just managed to duck out of burning coffee shop

SINGAPORE - A local resident rushed into her shop just after 10.45am last Sunday asking if Madam C. Tan had heard the explosion.

She had not.

But when the supervisor stepped out to check, she saw plumes of black smoke pouring out of Mega Foodcourt, the coffee shop across the road.

"The smoke was so thick, it looked like the kind after a bomb had gone off," she said in Mandarin.

"You could feel the heat from across the road. Then I heard an explosion and saw fire roaring from the back of the kopitiam."

Madam Tan was rooted to the spot as the drama unfolded.

"The flames jumped from stall to stall. I could even hear the "phoom, phoom" sound as things caught fire. In seconds, everything was ablaze," she said.

There was even fire raging out of the second-storey windows, Madam Tan said, adding that it looked like what you would see on a TV show.

That was when she saw the duck rice seller scurrying to save his wares.

"His stall was in front and I saw him taking the roasted ducks to hang somewhere else," she said.

"What for? Surely, his life is more important."

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FOUL SMELL IN AIR

When The New Paper later visited the coffee shop in front of Balestier Hill Primary School, a solitary charred duck was all that remained.

An acrid stench hung in the air.

Known for its bak kut teh and claypot frogs' legs, the 24-hour foodcourt at 567 Balestier Road was cordoned off.

The blaze had been so intense that plastic chairs were melted beyond recognition.

Blackened poles dangled from the sooty ceiling, pockmarked with charred holes.

TNP saw the coffee shop's owner carrying metal cases containing money into a waiting van. The middle-aged woman's neck and hands were covered in soot.

Draped in a white towel, she collapsed on the pavement across the coffee shop, saying "I don't know what happened."

She declined to be interviewed.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman said the fire broke out at 10.45am and engulfed the entire coffee shop. It was extinguished within 20 minutes.

There was no reported injury but a man from a neighbouring unit was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital as "a precautionary measure" after suffering "minor abrasions while exiting".

The cause of the fire is being investigated, the SCDF said.

A drinks stall assistant who wanted to be known only as Mr Zhang told Chinese evening newspaper Shin Min Daily News that he had sounded the alert.

The 64-year-old was brewing coffee when he saw a fireball in the kitchen.

"I shouted 'fire' and told people to leave," he said.

The 20 or so customers and stalholders fled as several explosions went off.

Motorists said the fire was so intense they could see smoke as they travelled along the Pan-Island Expressway.

Roads in the area were closed for an hour and bus passengers said the vehicles were diverted from their usual routes.

Earlier this month, a fire gutted a coffee shop at Marine Terrace.

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Fire nearly gutted Buddhist monk's travel plans

The fire that gutted Mega Foodcourt in Balestier Road almost disrupted a visiting monk's travel plans.

Bhante Mahanama, 45, had just arrived in Singapore from Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning. He was travelling with fellow Kiwi, Bhante Soma, 55.

A friend took them to the Buddha Dhamma Mandala Society, which is on the second storey above the coffee shop.

Bhante Mahanama left his medication and his 25kg suitcase in the corner unit before the saffron-clad monks headed off to explore Singapore's sights.

But when they returned at about 3pm, the place had been cordoned off and police officers would not let anyone enter as it was deemed unsafe.

"Please help, his medicine is inside," Bhante Soma pleaded with the cops.

FLYING TO SRI LANKA

"My passport and air ticket are with me," a perspiring Bhante Mahanama said, "but I need to get my suitcase. I'm supposed to fly to Sri Lanka tonight."

He is heading to Sri Rajawalukaramaya, a Buddhist monastery close to the historic city of Kandy on the South Asian island.

Society member Madam Lin, 62, told Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News that she saw black smoke outside the window.

More than 20 people ran to safety after she alerted them to the fire.

Madam Lin visits the society every Sunday morning to meditate.

A man who declined to be named said a talk scheduled for the afternoon had been cancelled because of the fire.

His female companion was allowed into the building and she returned with a navy suitcase, to the relief of Bhante Mahanama, who kept thanking them.

"The fire has not affected my travel plans but it has probably melted all the chocolates I brought (for friends)," he said.

kohht@sph.com.sg


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