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http://news.asiaone.com/News/The+New+Paper/Story/A1Story20090807-159759.html
Fire in McNair Road: 1 Dead
By Celine Lim
A MAN died after a fire broke out at an executive HDB flat along McNair Road in Boon Keng last night.
The Chinese man was found dead in the toilet of the master bedroom. His name and age could not be confirmed at press time.
The fire was confined to the flat's master bedroom.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) received a call at 10.10pm about a fire at Block 110, McNair Road, and they arrived within a minute.
They sent two fire bikes, two fire engines, a red rhino, two supporting appliances and an ambulance.
When SCDF officers rushed up to the flat on the 11th floor, there was no response when they knocked on the door and rang the doorbell.
They used a power saw and a cutter to break down the door, and got the fire under control under 10 minutes.
When they entered the unit, they found a Chinese man dead in the toilet of the master bedroom.
It is believed that an elderly couple lived in the unit with their two grown-up sons.
The couple is believed to be in their 50s, and their sons are in their 20s.
When The New Paper arrived at the scene at 10.45pm, a woman, who appeared to be in her 50s, was overhead frantically asking a police officer: 'Can you call my house to see if there's anyone inside?'
Later, the woman was led to her charred home on the 11th floor by officers. Loud wails and inconsolable sobbing could be heard.
A next-door neighbour, who declined to be named, told The New Paper that when the fire broke out at about 10pm, she didn't hear anything as she was watching a television programme at the time.
It wasn't until her son, who was downstairs at the time, ran home and told her to get out of the flat that she realised something was wrong.
She described the family next door as 'quiet and often kept to themselves'.
Another neighbour, Madam Marilyn Han, 50, a housewife who lives on the eighth floor, said that soon after 10pm, she heard loud crackling noises and shouting.
She ran out of the flat with her husband and five children. Several residents also headed downstairs, worried that the fire could spread to their units.
Madam Han said: 'When I was leaving the flat, there was a horrible burning smell and thick black smoke was billowing from the window.
'I could also see debris falling from the burning unit's window.'
Another resident, Mr Leroy Lee, 45, a sales executive, said someone rang his doorbell to warn him about the fire.
Said Mr Lee: 'It was frightening because the fire grew as we watched. My family and I were just standing at the void deck watching, and we were just praying that whoever lived there would get out safely.'
The SCDF said they are investigating the cause of the fire.
