A piece of concrete ceiling in a Housing Development Board (HDB) unit fell on a child after he sprayed water at it.

The boy's mum, Syasha DanialAlissa, shared about the incident in a Facebook post on May 19, where it garnered more than 1,400 shares within two hours.

Syasha wrote that the ceiling landed on her child's back.

In a follow-up post about one hour later, Syasha updated that the police and ambulance were activated.

The Town Council and HDB have also visited the unit to check on the situation, according to her.

Syasha's son has done an X-ray and received treatment for his injury. No stitches were needed.

Besides thanking everyone for their concern, Syasha also clarified that the initial post was uploaded after everything had been settled.

She shed light on how the incident may have occurred as well, explaining that her son had sprayed water at the ceiling before the concrete slab fell on him.

However, she said, the ceiling already had a crack in it before the incident.

Wear and tear

In response to queries by Mothership, HDB said that they were alerted to the incident on the afternoon of May 19.

They explained that the spalling concrete was caused by the corrosion of steel bars embedded in the ceiling, due to the ingress of moisture and acidic elements.

Over time, this caused the concrete ceiling cover to crack and fall off.

HDB added that the process is part of the "natural wear and tear" that occurs in older buildings, such as the 45-year-old flat where the incident took place.

The authority will be carrying out repair works in the flat on May 22.

HDB said that they will bear the cost of repair, as it is a rental flat.

You can read their full statement here:

"HDB was alerted to an incident of spalling concrete on Tuesday afternoon (19 May 2020). Our officers visited the flat the same day, and found spalling concrete in the ceiling of the toilet.

Spalling concrete occurs when steel bars embedded in the ceiling start to corrode, due to the ingress of moisture and acidic elements. Over time, this causes the concrete ceiling cover to crack and fall off. This is a natural wear and tear process which occurs in older buildings, such as this flat which is 45 years old. It tends to occur more frequently in moisture-prone areas such as the kitchen and bathrooms, where the humidity will speed up the carbonation process, which causes spalling concrete. However, spalling concrete is non-structural in nature and will not affect the building’s structural integrity.

We have helped the family to clear the debris arising from the spalling concrete, and will be carrying out repair works in the flat on Friday (22 May 2020). As this is a rental flat, HDB will bear the cost of repair.

With regular maintenance, spalling concrete in HDB flats, if it occurs, is usually minor and can easily be repaired. If there are signs of spalling concrete, flat owners should carry out repairs early to prevent the problem from deteriorating further and affecting a larger area. In the event rental tenants discover any defects such as spalling concrete or ceiling leak, tenants should report to HDB so that HDB can carry out the necessary repairs. More details on the repair works are available on the HDB InfoWEB."

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Top photo via Syasha DanialAlissa on Facebook