A 59-year-old man was found dead in a Punggol flat on Aug. 9, National Day.

Police confirmed with Mothership that the discovery was made at around 12:35pm at Block 233A Sumang Lane in Punggol.

Odour persisted for days before body found

A Shin Min Daily News reporter at the scene on Aug. 9 observed that there was an odour along the corridor.

A 70-year-old resident, Ava, told Shin Min that the smell had persisted for a few days, forcing her to keep her windows tightly shut and eat all her meals in the kitchen.

"I couldn't eat for the past two days because of the smell," she said.

Ava shared that on Aug. 8, she brought her daughter to search the block for the source of the smell.

They came to a unit where they suspected it was coming from, but it was locked so they gave up.

Residents alerted police

On Aug. 9, at around 11am, Ava went up to the 14th storey to rally neighbours to help in the search.

She managed to find five to six people to help her scour the block.

One of them was a 19-year-old student, who told Shin Min that they could smell the odour from the staircase.

Eventually, someone called the police, she added.

Police do not suspect foul play

Police told Mothership that they found a 59-year-old man lying motionless in a residential unit there.

He was pronounced dead at scene.

Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News