Hazel Park condominium residents return to find damage after WWII bomb disposal operation

SINGAPORE: Some damage has been spotted at a condominium near to the controlled detonation and disposal of a World War II bomb at a construction site in Upper Bukit Timah on Tuesday (Sep 26).

The Hazel Park condominium is located within a 200m radius of the bomb site. Its residents were among those required to vacate their building during the operation, when Singapore Armed Forces' explosive ordnance disposal unit disposed of the war relic by way of two controlled detonations.

Safety checks were then conducted and residents in the area were given the all-clear to return to their homes at about 5pm.

While the majority of residents who had to evacuate returned to find no damage to their homes, some Hazel Park residents spotted damage in certain common areas of the condominium.

Photos circulating in a residential chat group show pieces of fallen plaster and cracked windows that were cordoned off with tape, with a sign warning residents not to touch the affected window.

A resident of Hazel Park told CNA that she saw cracks on a glass panel that directly faced the blast site.

"I saw cracks in this side glass panel of the door in Block 21's main lobby. Block 21 is one of the two blocks facing the blast site," said the resident, who declined to be named.

The resident also saw "fragments of plaster" on the ground at a basement lift lobby at Block 17 of the condominium, another building that overlooked the bomb disposal site.

According to her, the fallen plaster was "directly underneath what seemed like an access panel on the false ceiling".

In response to CNA's queries, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said its engineers inspected Hazel Park condominium and the other buildings identified within 200m of where the war relic was discovered.

The buildings were found to be structurally safe for occupants to return to their premises, said BCA, adding that buildings in Singapore are structurally designed to withstand tremors, "including the effects of a blast from a distance".

BCA added that some non-structural damage was found in the common areas of Hazel Park condominium. It includes cracks on the glass, plaster boards and false ceiling, as well as dislodgement of fixture like downlights and ceiling access panels.

“Some could be due to the impact of the blast while some could be pre-existing condition before the disposal operation,” said BCA.

"BCA has informed the managing agent of the condo to cordon these areas as a safety precaution. We understand that the managing agent has already taken immediate steps to carry out some minor rectification works that can be done immediately."

There were no other reports of damage caused by the disposal in other developments within the 200m radius of the war relic disposal site, BCA added.

Queries have also been sent to the condominium's management for more information on the damage.

Andy Yeo, a lawyer from Eldan Law, told CNA a few aspects must be considered when deciding whether there is any liability for damage that might arise from the detonation of the war relic.

“There must be a duty of care that was breached whereby reasonably foreseeable harm or damage that was suffered, is directly linked to the detonation,” he said.

The 100kg WWII aerial bomb was unearthed last week at the work site of the upcoming Myst condominium near Cashew MRT station.

The two blasts took place at about 12.30pm and 1.45pm, the latter of which could be heard from as far as Senja-Cashew Community Club about 2km away from the site.

The community club served as an evacuation centre, where many of the affected residents went to wait out their day.

To facilitate a safer operation, certain roads around the area were also closed to traffic.

More than 4,000 people living and working in the area were evacuated due to the bomb disposal operation.

The last reported incident of an unexplored WWII relic was in 2019, when a 50kg aerial bomb was found at Jiak Kim Street in the River Valley area, also during excavation works at a construction site. 

In 2016, the Singapore Armed Forces’ Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit also disposed of a 100kg war relic found at a construction site in Mandai.