This harrowing scene — in which a man could only plead for help while he remained trapped in his burning house — transpired yesterday afternoon at Block 805 along King George's Avenue.
Unable to get out of his smoke-filled HDB unit as the key to the gate was nowhere to be found, the man could only sit near the door and await rescue. His neighbours, however, helped in every way they could — they tossed pailfuls of water into the house and attempted to break through the windows to find the keys.
Rescue came in the form of the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), who arrived at the scene with tools that presumably forced open the gate.