A coffee shop stall on the first floor of Block 805 Hougang Central was affected by the blaze. - LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Three people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a coffee shop in Hougang on Sunday (Oct 8) afternoon.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to a fire at Block 805 Hougang Central at about 2.40pm.
A coffee shop stall on the first floor was affected by the blaze.
A worker at the stall had extinguished the fire by shutting off the gas stove before firefighters arrived, SCDF said.
SCDF added that one person was taken to Singapore General Hospital and two others to Sengkang General Hospital.
Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao reported on Sunday that when a reporter visited the coffee shop, most stalls were open for business, except the Hokkien mee stall that caught fire.
Housewife Chen Li He, 56, said she was near the coffee shop at about 2.30pm when she heard loud noises that sounded like explosions, which startled people around her.
Some diners told Zaobao that they saw a man on fire as he ran out from the affected stall. He was later taken to hospital.
In a separate incident, SCDF was alerted to a vegetation fire along Pasir Ris Industrial Drive 1 at about 2.15pm on Sunday.
The vegetation area that caught fire was about the size of two football fields, SCDF said, adding that the fire was extinguished using three water jets.
No one was injured.
Both fires are being investigated.
