500 evacuated as fire hits hotel in Singapore; no injuries

SINGAPORE — About 500 people were evacuated Wednesday as fire hit a luxury hotel in downtown Singapore but there were no injuries, emergency services officials said.

Television footage showed thick black smoke billowing from the Grand Hyatt Hotel near the Orchard Road shopping district, but the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the fire was quickly put out.

The blaze involved a kitchen stove and an exhaust duct in a restaurant on the second floor, the SCDF said, adding it was extinguished by water sprinklers before firefighters arrived.

“There were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation,” it said.

“The smoke was really terrible … it got into my throat. I think it was quite thick,” Nadiah Yayoh, 40, who works at a boutique in the hotel, told AFP. “Usually we have fire drills and normal evacuations, as well as fire practice … This is a lesson learnt not to take it lightly.”

An AFP reporter on the scene said guests were still checking in around two hours after the blaze, but a burning smell lingered at the lobby and the second floor was dark.

It was the second luxury hotel fire in Singapore this year.

About 1,000 guests were evacuated due to a fire at the downtown Carlton Hotel on February 14, but no injuries were also reported. /kga