SINGAPORE – A fire broke out at a two-storey shophouse in Little India on Thursday afternoon (May 16), with many people in the nearby areas seeing thick grey smoke rising into the air.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post at around 3pm that it had been alerted to a fire at 14 Dickson Road. It added that officers are at the scene conducting firefighting operations.

In an update at 4.20pm, SCDF said that the fire was under control, and six handheld jets were used to contain the fire.

In another update at 5pm, SCDF said that neither flames nor thick black smoke could be seen, and firefighters were “making good progress”.

When The Straits Times reached the site, the area had been cordoned off and many bystanders were looking on.

Retiree Peter Lim, who lives alone next door to the building on fire, said that he had been sleeping when he heard people yelling that there was a fire next door.

The 72-year-old said he rushed down by himself when the incident happened around 2pm, and forgot about his dog, a pomeranian named Lucky.

He told ST in Mandarin that the police had gone up to check for remaining occupants and rescued his dog, who has been with him for 10 years.

Videos sent to The Straits Times on Thursday show smoke rising from a row of buildings in Dickson Road.

Additional reporting by Goh Yan Han and Aqil Hamzah

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