SINGAPORE: A 54-year-old man was found lying motionless along the corridor of a Housing Board block on Kreta Ayer Road in the early hours of Wednesday morning (Jan 7), prompting a police response and a temporary cordon of the area.
According to Shin Min Daily News, police were alerted to the incident at about 5:50 a.m. on Jan 7 at Block 333 Kreta Ayer Road. Paramedics who arrived at the scene later pronounced the man dead.
A reader who contacted the paper said several police vehicles were seen at the location earlier that morning. “I passed by in the morning and saw a blue tent set up along the second-floor corridor. I heard that someone had died,” the reader said.
Photographs provided to Shin Min Daily News showed a blue tent erected outside the second-floor shop units, with police tape sealing off stairwells and walkways on the ground level. By the time reporters arrived, the cordons had been removed, and foot traffic had resumed.
Shopkeepers in the vicinity said they were unsure why the man had collapsed in the corridor, with speculation circulating among those nearby. A male resident told the paper that when he left his flat at around 8 a.m., “a large number of police officers were still at the scene and the entire floor was cordoned off for investigations.”
In response to media queries, the Singapore Police Force confirmed that officers received a report at 5:50 a.m. involving “a 54-year-old man who was found lying motionless at the covered walkway of the block.” The police added that he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The police said, based on preliminary investigations, foul play is unlikely, adding that investigations are ongoing.
No further details about the man’s identity or cause of death were released for the moment.
While sudden deaths in public housing estates are not common, they are not unheard of, particularly in older neighbourhoods with higher proportions of elderly residents and single-occupant households.
The fast police action in ruling out foul play in this case helped limit unnecessary public and residential speculation, which also highlights the importance of communication during such incidents in residential areas.
