2 shophouses in Little India partially collapse after gas explosion

Six people suffer minor injuries in incident affecting restaurant and grocery shop

- Fatimah Mujibah, Samuel Devaraj and Caelyn Tan

Six people were injured after two shophouse units partially collapsed in Little India following a gas explosion in the early hours of Oct 8.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that it was alerted to the incident at 84 and 85 Syed Alwi Road, which is near Mustafa Centre, at about 1.30am.

The former location houses Paakashala Singapore, a vegetarian Indian restaurant, while the latter, Nirja Mega Mart.

In an update, the SCDF said preliminary investigations indicated that a likely build-up of flammable gas within the restaurant led to the blast and partial collapse of both structures.

The SCDF said no flammable gas readings were detected on-site.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said in a Facebook post at around 9.30am that it had been alerted to a suspected gas-explosion incident.

The authority said its engineers assessed the structural integrity of the shophouse units and the adjacent buildings.

BCA added: "The rear parts of the two shophouse units have partially collapsed. The front facade and staircase of unit 84 were also damaged by the explosion.

"The other adjacent buildings were not affected by the explosion and are safe."

BCA issued the owners of the shophouse units two orders - Dangerous Building and Closure - and told them to put in place immediate safety measures to cordon off the two units to prevent public access.