Metal beams fall from 8-storey Bartley building, almost hits man taking a call on ground floor

A store employee was taking a call outside the Inspace building in Bartley on Mar. 11 when multiple metal beams fell onto the road mere metres in front of him.

It turned out that a 27-metre-long architectural feature had fallen from the roof level of the eight-storey Inspace building, a light industrial and office building at 24 New Industrial Road.

A close call

Wang, 25, who works for the Everyday Curtains blinds shop in the building, told Mothership that at around 1:20pm, he was standing outside the shop to take a call when he heard two loud "bangs".

Wang said he instinctively jumped backwards when he heard the sound.

The next thing he knew, more metal beams fell not far from where he was standing.

Wang's colleagues immediately ran out to check, only to see a large number of metal beams scattered across the road.

Thankfully, Wang and the other employees were not injured.

Wang said he was lucky some of the smaller beams had struck the ground first.

"There was a sound from the impact, which warned me. If not, I wouldn't have time to run," he said.

Instructed to stay inside

A person at the store told Mothership that following the incident, people inside were told by the building management that no one was allowed to enter or leave the building.

"We were initially unsure of what had happened but were instructed by management to stay inside," said the person at the shop.

The management then cleared the premises of the fallen debris.

At 5:30pm, the building's occupants were instructed to evacuate.

A safety route to enter and exit the building was also demarcated.

The person at the shop said its business was affected as it had to cancel appointments with clients for the next two days.

BCA's response

In response to Mothership's queries, a Building and Construction Authority (BCA) spokesperson said it was notified by the police of the incident on the afternoon of Mar. 11.

Upon arrival, BCA engineers found that a 27m-long architectural feature had fallen from the roof level, with some parts of it landing on the ground.

As it fell, it struck another architectural feature below, leaving it partially dangling from the fifth floor.

As an immediate precautionary measure, the area directly below the affected section has been cordoned off, said the spokesperson.

The building owner’s appointed contractor will remove the loose and overhanging architectural features to prevent further hazards.

BCA has instructed the building owner to appoint a professional engineer to investigate the cause of the incident and inspect the condition of the rest of the building facade.

The owner will also be required to carry out permanent rectification works as recommended by the engineer, the spokesperson added.

Top image via Everyday Curtains