River Valley fire: SCDF recognises 18 members of the public who responded to blaze

SINGAPORE: Dr Laura Biffin had just returned from a morning coffee run and was in her office on River Valley Road excitedly preparing for the opening of her new clinic when she heard a loud commotion out in the streets. 

She ran out immediately to the sight of people screaming as children sat on a third-storey ledge with the “thickest black smoke” billowing out of windows behind them after a fire broke out at a shophouse at River Valley Road. 

“I saw the worst thing that I’ll ever see in my life. Most people were just out the front with their phones filming, but the doctor in me went straight under the scaffolding looking for children who needed help,” the 38-year-old told CNA on Tuesday (Apr 15).

Dr Biffin was among 18 members of the public recognised by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) for their actions that helped save lives during the fire at 278 River Valley Road on Apr 8, which killed one child.

A total of 22 people, including 16 children, were taken to hospitals following the fire. A 10-year-old Australian girl subsequently died at one of the hospitals.

The sight of a boy who appeared “lifeless” being brought down by a firefighter shocked Dr Biffin, and she immediately began to assess if she needed to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him when he was brought to a shophouse a couple of doors down.

“I looked inside his mouth to see if it was burnt. Luckily he came to, so he thankfully did not need CPR. I was able to check for injuries and burns and thankfully he was fine,” Dr Biffin said. 

“There were many coughing children in the room and burnt children in the room, but they had other adults in there, so I thought I better run out and find any more children that needed help,” she added. 

Speaking to CNA after the “shocking and traumatic” incident, Dr Biffin said she had been unable to eat for the last week and kept replaying the accident in her head. 

“It’s honestly been the worst time of my life. I’ve been reliving that day, every single day, thinking what I should have done or could have done better,” she said. “It’s unavoidable to think what else we could have done to help.”

The 18 individuals were recognised with the SCDF Community Lifesaver Award, which is presented to members of the public whose actions contributed to saving lives and involved an element of self-risk.

The shophouse at 278 River Valley Road houses a children’s enrichment centre run by Newtonshow Camp. On Apr 9, Tomato Cooking School, one of the brands under Newtonshow, said it was cooperating with investigations into the fire.

“For all fire incidents, especially this one, time is of the critical essence. So we really thank the members of (the) public who responded that day, even before SCDF’s arrival,” said Colonel Tay Zhi Wei, the commander of the 1st SCDF Division.

“You would have seen in many of the videos that have been circulating so far that their bravery, their quick action and their collective action really saved lives that day,” he added.

“THEY ONLY THOUGHT OF THE CHILDREN”

Private-hire driver Benson Lo, 47, was driving past when he saw the blaze and people stranded on the third-floor ledge of the shophouse and stopped his car.

He entered the building and tried to go up to see if he could bring people out, but did not make it up the stairs to the second floor because of the thick smoke and fire.

He then helped a group of construction workers to support the scaffolding and bring children down from the ledge.

Mr Lo recalled seeing four adults inside the shophouse, whom he described as teachers, bringing children to the window and carrying them onto the ledge to get them away from the blaze.

“They only thought of the children first before their own safety,” he said, calling them “responsible”.

The children on the ledge were “shivering” and “wanted to jump” from the ledge, and the community responders shouted at them to stop, said Mr Lo.

Mr Lo was a “gentleman” who held the scaffolding steady with one hand while carrying the kids down to safety with his other hand, said construction worker Shakil Mohammad

Mr Shakil, 35, was among those who helped to carry the children down from the ledge as they tried to stay safe from the fire.

He initially tried to go up to the third storey of the building but could not make it past the blaze on the second floor, and went outside to help.

Mr Shakil said he took a step ladder from his worksite nearby when he realised that the scaffolding other construction workers had carried to the scene was not tall enough to reach the ledge.

He was at the top of the step ladder with fellow construction workers Hasan Emamul, 20, and Chinnappa Kannadasan, 32, who formed a human chain to carry the children to safety.

There was “no escape” from the building, said Mr Shakil, and he saw a child trying to jump from the ledge. “I (said): ‘Don’t jump. I'll help you,’” he said.

Mr Ravi Kumar, a construction worker who assisted his colleagues in carrying the children to the ground, said that he was thinking of his younger sister who is around the same age as them, and started feeling scared.

“I saved lives and I still feel it today,” he said, adding that the girl who died from the fire was still stuck in his mind. 

“Even when I’m working or eating, I’m thinking about her and feel very sad,” the 26-year-old worker from India said.

The 18 individuals recognised by SCDF were:

• Mr Chinnappa Kannadasan
• Mr Hasan Emamul
• Mr Shakil Mohammad
• Mr Das Taposh
• Mr Hasan Rajib
• Mr Ravi Kumar
• Mr Varuvel Christopher
• Mr Govindaraj Elangeshwaran
• Mr Muthukumar Mugesh
• Mr Inderjit Singh
• Mr Sivasami Vijayaraj
• Mr Nagarajan Anbarasan
• Mr Subramanian Saranraj
• Mr Islam Shafiqul
• Mr Subramanian Rameshkumar
• Mr Benson Lo
• Mr Shaik Amirudin Bin Kamaludin
• Dr Laura Biffin