Indian National Found Dead in Singapore Building Collapse

A 20-year-old Indian national was found dead under the rubble of the Fuji Xerox Towers building in Singapore’s Central Business District. The Indian worker was employed by Aik Sun Demolition and Engineering, and part of the building collapsed during demolition works on Thursday. After more than six hours of search and rescue operations, rescue workers found the body of the worker, who has not been identified, pinned under 2m of debris. The weight of the concrete slab, which was estimated to be at least 50 tonnes, complicated the efforts made by rescuers. Despite an intensive search and rescue operation that deployed 11 emergency vehicles, about 70 officers and two search dogs, the worker was pronounced dead at the scene. The operation required the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) personnel to dig their way through the rubble to create space and assess where parts of the body may have been trapped, an SCDF statement noted. Search operations continued through the night to ensure that no one else was trapped under the rubble, though CCTV footage shows there was no other person under the structure. City Developments Limited (CDL) issued a statement late on Thursday expressing its condolences and offering its assistance to the worker’s family.