About 100 people evacuated after shop fire at Far East Shopping Centre

SINGAPORE: About 100 people were evacuated from Far East Shopping Centre on Wednesday night (Feb 15) after a fire broke out at a jewellery store on the first floor.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at about 10.30pm.

Photos and videos taken by CNA readers showed smoke outside jewellery store House of Hung and firefighters trying to gain access to the shop along Orchard Road.

The fire involved the contents of a display cabinet, said SCDF.

"SCDF conducted forced entry into the unit and extinguished the fire using a water jet," it added.

The police and SCDF evacuated about 30 people, while about 70 people self-evacuated before officers arrived.

No injuries were reported.

Mr Shyam Raj, who runs the Al Capone's Far East Shopping Centre bar on the second floor of the mall, said that he heard the fire alarm go off at about 10.15pm.

While he initially thought that it was a periodic test being conducted by the building's management, the alarm continued ringing for 10 minutes, and a friend reported that the building's basement was smoky.

"Immediately, I went to the scene and the building was smelling of an electrical fire, or at least it seemed like (it)," said Mr Shyam Raj, adding that staff and customers at Al Capone's were evacuated at about 11.10pm.

"The place had a bad smell. The lobby smelt of burning rubber and it was filled with smoke."

According to Mr Shyam Raj, firefighters spent about 30 minutes breaking the lock and cutting the grille of the shop.

SCDF said the cause of the fire is under investigation.