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SINGAPORE – Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said no one was injured in the massive fire at the Sembawang Wealth God Temple along Admiralty Street on Friday night (September 18).
The Sembawang GRC Member of Parliament (MP) added in a Facebook post on Saturday that the fire did not spread to the adjoining residential block.
He also revealed that, after speaking with the temple president on Saturday morning, he was told that all the deities were “miraculously” unharmed. The temple administration is making arrangements to assess the structural integrity of the building.
“We will be in contact with the temple administration to better understand the extent of the damage and if there is anything we can do to restore the temple,” he wrote in his post.
Ong said that he and his colleague Sembawang GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak used to visit the temple every Chinese New Year’s Eve, and that it was very popular with residents.
“It’s very sad and heartbreaking to see it get destroyed,” he said in his Facebook post.
Found three canine corpses
While no humans were injured, the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) said they found three canine carcasses during last night’s firefighting operation, despite saving a dog.
The Chained Dogs Awareness in Singapore wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday that it was aware that three dogs were confined in “decent-sized” enclosures at the temple.
He expressed his devastation over the death of the dogs and called on authorities to prevent temples, workshops and factories from confining the dogs in cages and tied to stationary objects.
“We left things as they are because we really saw love and concern when we spoke to the people at the temple,” he wrote in his Facebook post.
“But right now, it is precisely a safety issue that caused these dogs to lose their lives.
“We don’t blame anyone in this position. What happened is tragic and we are sure that nobody wanted things to turn out that way. But are we going to allow things to continue like this? “
According to the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF), the fire had engulfed the first floor of the temple and was spreading to the second floor when it arrived after being alerted around 9.15pm.
As a security measure, the police evacuated residents of a nearby nursing home. SCDF said an elderly man in the home experienced shortness of breath and was later taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital by an SCDF ambulance.
A total of 11 emergency vehicles and some 60 firefighters were deployed for the incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Huge fire breaks out at Sembawang God of Wealth Temple, nursing home residents evacuated
