Alexandra Village hawker rescued after hand gets trapped in sugarcane machine for 2 hours

A man was taken to hospital after his right hand was trapped in a sugarcane machine at Alexandra Village Food Centre on Monday evening (March 9).

The man had his hand caught in the press while working and was trapped for about two hours before he was rescued, reported Lianhe Zaobao.

Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1 at about 9pm. 

Firefighters and rescue specialists from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team carried out the rescue operation together with an SCDF paramedic, who administered pain relief and monitored the person's vital signs throughout the operation.

An emergency medical team from National University Hospital was also deployed on site to provide medical support.

The man's hand was subsequently released, and he was taken to the National University Hospital. 

When Zaobao's reporters arrived at the scene at 10.15pm, they observed more than a dozen civil defence personnel surrounding the juice stall and using various tools to carry out the rescue.

Several of the man's relatives were also seen in front of the stall. A woman believed to be the man's wife, along with another younger man, appeared distressed and were seen covering their eyes and crying, reported the Chinese daily.

The stall owner's hand was eventually freed at around 10.45pm, and the man, who was seen wearing a floral shirt, was helped onto a stretcher by medical staff. His ring finger and little finger on his right hand were bandaged.

A bak kut teh stall owner, who declined to be named, told Lianhe Zaobao that there were not many people at the food centre at the time of the incident, with only two or three customers queuing to buy drinks at the juice stall.

The stall owner added that the injured stall operator is in his 60s and has been in business at the hawker centre for more than 10 years. He also described the latter as "cheerful and humorous".

It was also reported that Queenstown SMC MP Eric Chua arrived at the scene at around 11pm to offer support to the injured man's family, staying for about 15 minutes before leaving.

xingying.koh@asiaone.com

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