25m-tall tree falls on HDB block near Old Airport Road, no injuries reported

Today Online 3 Apr 19;

SINGAPORE — A tree fell on Block 97, Jalan Dua, near Old Airport Road, early on Wednesday (April 3) morning, causing some damage.

Lianhe Zaobao reported that the 25m-tall tree, which reached up to eight floors of the block, fell at around 5.25am during heavy rainfall.

The impact broke several windows and damaged some air-conditioning compressors, added the Chinese-language daily.

Member of Parliament for Mountbatten Lim Biow Chuan posted about the incident on his Facebook page.

"I visited some of the residents this morning. Fortunately no one was hurt," wrote Mr Lim.

Photos in Mr Lim’s post showed the fallen tree leaning against the block — reaching a height of around eight storeys. The tree also appeared to have damaged a pavilion located at the foot of the block.

A spokesperson for Marine Parade Town Council, which is in charge of the estate, said it activated its horticulture contractor as soon as it learnt of the incident.

“Our contractor has since removed the tree and cleared the debris, and there were no reported injuries.”

The Singapore Civil Defence Force separately confirmed that there were no reports of injuries arising from the incident.

“We are currently liaising with the affected residents and assisting them to repair the damages,” added the town council spokesperson.


Windows smashed, air conditioners damaged after fallen tree hit HDB block near Old Airport Road
Channel NewsAsia 3 Apr 19;

SINGAPORE: A tree fell and hit an HDB block at Jalan Dua, near Old Airport Road, during a heavy downpour early Wednesday (Apr 3) morning, damaging windows and air conditioning units on the building.

A spokesperson for Marine Parade Town Council (MPTC) said the incident near Block 97, Jalan Dua, happened at around 5am.

Block 97 resident Selvam Steve, 52, said he was woken up by the sound of his window pane shattering at about 5.20am. He told CNA that his family had found broken glass shards up to his living room.

Mr Steve, who has lived in a unit on the fifth floor for 13 years, said this was the first time something like this had happened.

A 60-year-old resident, who wanted to be known only as Madam Tan, also said she woke up to a "loud noise".

"It sounded like something very heavy," said Madam Tan, who lives alone in a unit on the 6th floor.

She said she counted herself "lucky" that her windows were not damaged, even though the tree was leaning against it. The windows in the unit next to hers were in a bad state, she added.

The spokesperson for MPTC said a horticulture contractor was called to the scene once they were alerted to the incident.

"Our contractor [has] since removed the tree and cleared the debris, and there were no reported injuries," the spokesperson added.

"We are currently liaising with the affected residents and assisting them to repair the damages."

Source: CNA/ga(mi)