SINGAPORE - A 35-year-old man died after falling several stories inside Ngee Ann City on Sunday afternoon (July 14).

Police said they were alerted to the incident at 391 Orchard Road, the mall's address, at 2.07pm.

The man was found lying motionless and was unconscious when taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He later died from his injuries.

Police are investigating the case of unnatural death.

The Straits Times understands that the hospital was on standby to receive him.

According to retail staff at the mall, the man fell from the third level to the basement two level, near the escalator well.





Staff from the mall clean up the blood outside the ActionCity store at the basement 2 level of Ngee Ann City on July 14, 2019. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE



Shopkeepers working near the escalator well at basement two said they heard a loud sound around the time the incident happened.

Part-time waiter Jerdy Ang, 21, who works at a cafe on the third floor did not witness the incident but said his colleague, who happened to be looking in the direction of the escalator then, did.

His colleague saw the man walking from the corridor towards the railing but thought he was "seeing things wrongly" and realised the man had fallen only after hearing the sound of him landing on the basement.

The colleague has given his statement to the police.

Mr Andi Adhyaksa told ST that he heard a man scream briefly, followed by the sound of a hard object hitting the floor.

The 20-year-old Indonesian student, who is here on holiday, was with his family at Heavenly Wang, a restaurant near where the incident happened.

Seconds later, he heard two women screaming. They were subsequently interviewed by the police who also moved the man, he added.

"The person fell near the escalator, and there was a (a lot) of blood where he fell," Mr Andi said.

An eyewitness, who declined to be named, told ST that she saw blood outside the ActionCity toy store at the mall's basement two level.

Police were talking to three people seated on a bench outside the store, the eyewitness said.

Related Story Death of teenager who fell at Orchard Central was a tragic misadventure: Coroner

A staff member of the store told ST that she was serving a customer at the kiosk outside the shop when the man landed in front of them.

The mall was crowded at the time of the incident and a crowd gathered around the area, said Mr Ang. He added that a woman also stepped forward to help the man before police and paramedics arrived but he did not know if they knew each other.

The scene was cleaned up shortly before 5pm.

A Ngee Ann City spokesman said that the mall's security personnel responded within minutes of the incident and assisted the injured man, before handing him over to police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force when they arrived.

The mall is also assisting businesses and staff affected by the incident, he said, adding that there have been no other calls for assistance from shoppers.

"We regret that this incident has occurred in our mall and we would like to reassure all our staff and customers that their safety and security is also our top priority," the spokesman said.