Its director, Mr Sim Seng Cheng, 61, told the media in Mandarin that at about 5pm a supervisor called to tell him a fire had broken out there with 20 employees inside.
He was told one of the workers was spray-painting a van when a nearby motor exploded. The motor was in a grilled enclosure and the workers were unable to get close to it. While some workers tried using a fire extinguisher through the grill to put out the blaze, others drove the vehicles out of the workshop.An association member at the neighbouring Hong San Temple, who declined to be named, said he heard a loud boom at about 6.30pm while he was watching the World Cup match between Wales and Iran with nine others.
The 68-year-old said: “There were already many people gathering around outside. We heard three or four more explosions that made us jump.”He described the flames as reaching higher than a three-storey building next to the temple when an SCDF fire engine arrived.Mr Sim said Yong Sing was moving to a nearby workshop at Block 8 Defu South Street and will continue operating from there.“Life is more important than business. If someone had lost his life, I wouldn’t know how to tell his loved ones.
[Final Update: Fire @ No. 53 Defu Lane 12] At about 6:40 p.m. today , SCDF was alerted to a fire at the...