Facade cladding falls off Pasir Ris HDB block
She was playing with her three-month-old baby in her eighth-storey Pasir Ris Housing Board flat when she heard a thunderous noise.
Alarmed, Madam Ye Ruoshi, 45, looked out of her living room window and saw her neighbours pointing at the next block.
She looked up and realised that a portion of the decorative cladding on the facade of the block had fallen from a height of about eight storeys, crashing and shattering on the walkway below.
The incident happened at Block 270 Pasir Ris Street 21 yesterday around 11am.
Madam Ye, a visual artist who lives in Block 272, told The New Paper: "There was a really sharp, clashing noise, and you couldn't miss it. We were so shaken that my child started crying non-stop."
Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Member of Parliament Zainal Sapari wrote about the incident on Facebook.
He said: "The incident site has been cordoned off and there is no injury involved. Police and the Town Council are at site... (The) cause of damage is still under investigation."
The Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and HDB's technical department were at the site in the afternoon, said Mr Zainal.
Police officers had cordoned off the area.
Madam Ye, who has three other children aged nine to 13, said she called to warn them after yesterday's incident: "I am fearful for my children as this is so unpredictable, and I cannot imagine (what would happen) if the metal and debris were to land on someone's head."
A spokesman for the town council told TNP last night that it will be carrying out the necessary repairs and will also take additional precautionary measures by checking the neighbouring blocks with similar facade features.
The Straits Times reported that there were at least seven cases of safety incidents involving facades from 2011 to last year.
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