Singapore: 3 taken to hospital due to ammonia leak in food factory near Boon lay

Singapore Civil Defence Force
Facebook/Singapore Civil Defence Force

At least three people were taken to hospital after ammonia gas leak at a building in Jurong on Friday in Singapore. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they were taken Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in a conscious and stable condition.

According to reports, Ben Foods, the food distribution company that does food trading, packing and wholesale operations, is situated in the building. According to its website, the company is housed in a multi-temperature warehouse.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) posted on Facebook that it was informed about the incident an ammonia leak at 1 Fishery Port Road at about 11.40 am.

"The leak in a first-floor chiller room was shut off by the company and its staff were evacuated prior to SCDF's arrival," SCDF said in the post.

Three people have been decontaminated by SCDF by washing them down with water. SCDF said that their officers are still at the scene.

Lianhe Zaobao, a Chinese-language newspaper quoted an eyewitness as saying that 150 employees dispersed after the gas leak incident. Zhou, a 28-year-old marketing employee who works there, told the publication that one person vomited and two suffered from headaches.

Last year in July, 11 workers were taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital after being exposed to a chemical leak at a wafer fabrication plant in 166 Kallang Way. However, later SCDF declared that the surrounding environment was safe and there were no traces of the chemical in the air.

In September 2016, seven people were admitted to hospital after a chlorine gas leaked from an indoor storage facility in Pioneer, Singapore.

This article was first published on January 26, 2018
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