Singapore government honours 4 Indians for helping rescue children from shophouse fire

Singapore: The Singapore government has honoured four Indian migrant workers for their heroic actions in rescuing children and adults from a fire at a shophouse, where 16 minors and six adults were trapped.

Mark Shankar Pawanovich, 8, the son of Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan was among those rescued from the fire on April 8. He was at a cooking school located in the shophouse.

A 10-year-old Australian girl rescued from the fire died later at a hospital.

Inderjit Singh, Subramanian Saranraj, Nagarajan Anbarasan and Sivasami Vijayaraj received the Friends of ACE coins from the Manpower Ministry’s Assurance, Care and Engagement (Ace) Group -- which safeguards the well-being of migrant workers in the city-state -- for rescuing those trapped in the fire.

“Their quick thinking and bravery made all the difference... Thank you for reminding us of the power of community in times of need,” the ministry was quoted as saying by Friday weekly Tabla! Hearing the screams of children and noticing thick smoke billowing out of a third-floor shophouse window, the migrant workers wasted no time in grabbing a scaffold from their workplace just opposite the blaze.

They used the scaffold and a ladder to reach the children on the ledge of the shophouse, which houses Tomato Cooking School that runs camps and cooking classes.

They were joined by other migrant workers who were working on River Valley Road near the shophouse.

Staff from inside the shophouse placed the children one by one on the ledge just outside the window and the workers carried the children and passed them down a human chain to safety, as reported by Tabla! There was no time for the workers to clip on safety harnesses. They had prioritised the rescue over their own safety.

In the 10 minutes before the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived, the migrant workers had saved the lives of 10 children.

Subramanian Saranraj, 34, was one of the workers who said he would never forget the sight of children with soot marks on their faces, coughing and struggling to breathe while wailing for help.

The lorry driver had just dropped some workers off at Valley Lodge Condominium for renovation work and was driving off. Just when he was about to make a right turn at about 9:40 am, he saw the crowd around the burning shophouse.

Saranraj, who hails from Tamil Nadu, said: “I got off the lorry immediately and through the smoke, saw a male teacher and children looking out of the window, frantically crying out for help. The fumes were getting bigger, and we didn’t have much time.” He added, “We too have children. Had it been our kids, would we have stood by and done nothing?” Those words were echoed by his colleague Nagarajan Anbarasan, 37, who was also among the first responders. “When we saw the children in distress, we couldn’t bear it.” They decided against running up the stairs to get to the children as the smoke was too thick.

Saranraj said: “We didn’t have any protective equipment to guard against the fumes. We were not familiar with the building as well and didn’t know where the stairs were. So we went for the windows.” Saranraj recalled the panic all around. “Some children even wanted to jump down but we reassured them and rescued them one by one.” Of the 22 casualties, 16 were children aged between six and 10. The other six were adults aged between 23 and 55.

Fire safety breaches were found at the shophouse.

"Preliminary findings are that the fire likely originated from an area used for storage on the second storey of the three-storey shophouse," the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

"Preliminary investigations also found fire safety non-compliances, including unauthorised works involving the erection of partitions within the premises," it said.

Only the first floor of the three-storey shophouse was approved for use as a children's enrichment centre, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Wednesday.

The upper two floors, as well as the attic, are approved for residential use.

URA said investigations are ongoing. Anyone found guilty of unauthorised use of premises may be fined up to SGD200,000.

The building houses the enrichment centre Newtonshow Camp. There are signs outside the shophouse belonging to several brands listed on Newtonshow's website, including Tomato Cooking School, theatre school Drama Llama and coding school Maker.