A fire broke out at a stall that was having its gas supply restored in Old Airport Road Food Centre yesterday, with three taken to the hospital with burn injuries.
The incident occurred at about 10am at Xin Mei Congee porridge stall, where two Union Energy repairmen had been working on its gas supply, Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.
The owner of a noodle stall, who gave his name as Mr Wang, 52, told Wanbao that there was a loud explosion about half an hour into the repair works.
He called the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), and several passers-by pitched in to help put out the fire.
Four people were hurt, including two Union Energy maintenance workers and a female hawker from a fish soup stall just behind the porridge stall.
SCDF said in a Facebook post yesterday that the three victims were taken in stable conditions to the Singapore General Hospital.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident was “caused by a flash fire arising from repair works carried out on the gas supply to the food stall”, it added.
Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan visited the hawker centre and asked about the affected hawkers as well as assisted in insurance and compensation matters.
Union Energy representatives were also on site to lend assistance.
A spokesman said it would investigate the incident and assist the affected hawkers.
The hawker centre resumed normal operations in the afternoon after the fire was put out.
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