Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

A man was supervising his children at a playground in Punggol when he stepped onto a drain cover and promptly fell through it when it broke.

The playground is located at the newly-built Northshore Plaza II, which opened in July 2021.

The man, surnamed Xu, told Shin Min Daily News he had brought his children there around noon on Apr. 1.

As the kids were playing, he was looking for a bin for his trash.

He stepped onto a concrete drain cover and it suddenly gave way.

He said:

"Suddenly, my whole body and the drain cover were in the ditch. That moment felt like I was free-falling in a water park, I fell straight in. I was completely shocked."

Xu is 1.8m tall, and the ditch was almost as deep as his height.

He said he was able to react in a split second and put his hands on the ground to support his fall.

Two passers-by who witnessed the incident rushed forward to lend their help.

They pulled him out of the ditch and wanted to call an ambulance, but he declined to avoid scaring his kids.

He subsequently informed the mall management and reminded the people in the area to be careful.

The hole in the drain had also attracted a few curious onlookers.

Sprained his back

Due to the shock from the fall, he did not consider that he might have been injured.

He also did not want to scare the children, so he brought them home before anything else.

At home, he rested for a while before feeling sore and deciding to see a doctor.

He told Shin Min that he had sprained his back and suffered scratches to his ankles and knees. During the interview, he was unable to sit up straight.

He added that some of the drain covers had cracks. The drain is located next to the playground, where there are children running about, as well as skateboarders.

"If it was a child or elderly person who fell into the drain, the situation would be much worse," said Xu.

Shin Min reported that staff had put up cordon tape and signs to caution mall goers by the same evening.

Mothership has reached out to the mall for a comment.

Related stories

Top images via Shin Min Daily News.