April 10, 2025
SINGAPORE – Construction worker Shakil Mohammad was at work at River Valley Road on April 8 when he heard screams next door.
Seeing a shophouse on fire and children standing on the ledge on the third floor, he rushed to help them.
Speaking to The Straits Times on April 9, Mr Shakil, 35, who is from Bangladesh, said: “The children wanted to jump. I told them, ‘Don’t jump! I will help you’.”
He and several workers took a ladder from the construction site to get to them.
Tomato Cooking School, which runs cooking lessons and camps for children, is located in the shophouse.
Mr Shakil, who has been working in Singapore since 2018, was second on the ladder, with another worker above him grabbing children and passing them to him.
He said: “There was one girl, when she was passed to me, her eyes were closed. I held her in my arms, she was not moving.
“The fire was so hot. But I die, no problem, I just needed to save the children.”
Mr Shakil thinks they saved 10 of them.
Choking up, he added: “There were three more children inside, and I wanted to go inside to save them, but I couldn’t. The fire was too big. I cannot explain how (painful) my heart is.”
Construction workers Shakil Mohammad (right) and Ramesh Kumar helped to save some of the children from the shophouse fire on April 8. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
The fire left a 10-year-old girl dead and 21 others injured.
She died after being taken to the hospital, said the police. The 22 casualties included six adults aged between 23 and 55, and 16 children aged between six and 10.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the girl who died was an Australian.
A spokesperson said: “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Singapore. We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time.”
It added that due to privacy reasons, it was unable to provide further comment.
ST understands that assistance may involve liaising with local and Australian authorities in funeral arrangements or repatriation of remains.
The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the fire at about 9.45am.
In a Facebook post on April 9, the school said it was deeply saddened and shocked by the incident, and added it was assisting with investigations.
It said: “At this moment, our priority remains the safety and well-being of everyone involved.”
It added it will provide updates later.
“We kindly ask for respect and privacy for the affected families as the investigation progresses,” said the school.
It had changed its display photo on Facebook to a black background.
When Mr Zainal Zin arrived at the furniture store where he worked, he saw some children with burns running out crying, while others were carried out unconscious by firefighters.
Some children sat by the roadside, looking shell-shocked.
Mr Zainal, 56, said: “I’ll never forget the look on their faces and I cannot get the scene out of my head.
“One girl was lifeless as a firefighter carried her out. Her eyes were closed. Paramedics were rushing to do CPR on her.
“Another boy, who looked like he was around four years old, had his head and arms wrapped in bandages, and he was clinging tightly to a paramedic.”
Members of the public, including construction workers, used metal scaffolding and a ladder to rescue those trapped on the third storey ledge.
Mr Zainal said: “It was a terrible thing to witness. This girl had burns all over her left arm. When she turned around, I saw burns on the left side of her face too.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about the children. I can’t imagine how their parents must feel.”
Mr Dani Rahmat, 25, owner of a nearby barber shop, praised the migrant workers. He said: “I think they were super selfless. What they did was really inspiring.”
At around 12.50pm on April 9, SCDF officers arrived for investigations.
Several bouquets of flowers were left at the scene, which has been cordoned off.
Several bouquets of flowers were left at the scene, which has been cordoned off. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
An SCDF spokesperson said it is contacting those who helped evacuate the victims, to present them with the SCDF Community Lifesaver Award.
Several Indian media outlets reported that Mark Shankar, seven, the son of Indian politician Pawan Kalyan, was among those injured.
The JanaSena political party, led by Mr Kalyan, said in an X post on April 9 that Mark had been injured in his hands and legs. He underwent a bronchoscopy, which is a procedure that involves the doctor examining a patient’s airways by using a tube with a camera attached to it.
Doctors said Mark’s life is not in danger, said the party.
At around 12.50pm on April 9, SCDF officers arrived for investigations. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
Speaking to local media in Hyderabad on April 8, Mr Kalyan thanked the construction workers.
He added that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called to check on Mark’s condition. ST has contacted the High Commission of India in Singapore for more information.
The girl who died in the blaze is the fourth fire fatality in 2025.
In January, a family of three died after a Hougang five-room flat caught fire.
According to SCDF’s annual statistics, five people died in fires in 2024, up from three in 2023.