A 28-year-old man was found dead after he was suspected to have drowned in the waters off East Coast Park on Sunday, December 21, with his body recovered nearly seven hours after authorities were alerted.
The police said that they received a report of a suspected drowning at about 11.55 am. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted shortly after, at around noon, and deployed resources for a water rescue operation.
Upon arrival, firefighters conducted a visual search from the shore, while divers from SCDF's Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) carried out underwater searches in the area where the man was last seen. Marine firefighters were also deployed on a rescue vessel to scour nearby waters.
After several hours of search efforts, SCDF rescuers retrieved a body from the shoreline at about 6.40 pm. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by an SCDF paramedic, police said.
The incident drew public attention, with a user on social media platform Xiaohongshu posting about police and SCDF vehicles spotted in the area around noon.
According to the post, a large section of the park was cordoned off, while divers and a boat were seen in the water. A video accompanying the post showed police cars, an ambulance and an SCDF vehicle, along with officers stationed near a pavilion inside the cordoned area.
The police said that the preliminary investigations do not indicate any foul play. Investigations are still ongoing.
