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Two migrant workers had to make a quick escape after the cables on the gondola they were on loosened on one end, leaving the seven-storey high equipment dangling in a near-vertical position.

Cables loosened when gondola was seven storey high

Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News reported that the harrowing incident occurred at Block 708 Pasir Ris Drive 10 at about 9:30am on Mar. 23.

At that time, the two migrant workers were installing nettings meant to prevent birds from nesting in the area, according to a town council spokesperson who spoke to Shin Min.

The gondola was installed on Mar. 22 in preparation for the installation of the preventive netting.

However, the cables on the right side of the gondola began to loosen when the gondola was seven floors off the ground.

This caused the right side of the gondola to be lowered, tilting the gondola to a near-vertical position, where its lowest edge reached the sixth level of the HDB block.

Quick thinking migrant workers escaped via stairwell

A 65-year-old resident on the seventh level said he went to check out the situation after he was awoken by a loud "bang".

He said he saw the gondola shaking from the neighbouring stairwell, and the stranded migrant workers appeared distressed.

Another resident, 35, told Shin Min that items, such as paint cans, had slid right off the gondola, and splattered on the parapet and walls below.

While the migrant workers were momentarily stunned, they deftly climbed towards a nearby stairwell and managed to escape safely after some quick thinking, said the resident.

There were no injuries reported, but both migrant workers were sent to the hospital for observation.

MOM investigating cause of incident

A Shin Min reporter who was at the scene noticed that the cables holding the gondola were uneven.

Additionally, the cables appeared unbroken, nor did the gondola appear to have malfunctioned.

The town council spokesperson said they were unsure why the cables had loosened, but added that they have reported the incident to the Ministry of Manpower, which will investigate the cause.

Incident happened for second month

A similar incident took place at Punggol in February 2022.

During the incident, residents in a unit at Block 176D Edgefield Plains had to rescue two migrant workers after the cables on their gondola snapped while the gondola was 16 floors high.

Concerned that the migrant workers may slip off the severely tilted gondola, the residents opened their window for the migrant workers to climb in and escape through their house.

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Top image from Shin Min Daily News and screenshot from Google Streetview