Loud explosions, blackouts and smoke reported at Bras Basah/Bugis area

Several Singaporeans reported that they heard loud explosions and saw smoke coming from the Carlton Hotel at 76 Bras Basah Road, about an hour ago.

Several photos showing Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) at the scene have been circulating on social media. One eyewitness, Facebook user Ricardo Sentosa reported that he heard a “small explosion” around 1.20pm, before he heard a second explosion.

Ricardo also shared a video on social media showing smoke wafting out of a blackened back door at the hotel:

The SCDF has since revealed that it responded to a fire at the hotel, around 1.15pm. The SCDF updated two hours later, at 3.15pm, that the fire was contained in a switch room and that 1,000 people were evacuated from the hotel as officer put out the flames with fire extinguishers. There were no reported injuries.

Meanwhile, some netizens have also reported power outages at offices and MRT stations in the Bugis Area. One netizen sent a picture to Channel NewsAsia, showing a blackout Chinatown MRT station:

Another individual, Ho Shao Dong, reported that it appeared as though the entire Bras Basah Complex building also experienced a blackout.

Confirming that electricity supply to some areas in central Singapore was disrupted, SP Group said: “Our officers were immediately deployed to the affected areas and our priority is to restore supply as safely and quickly as possible. Supply has been restored to most of these locations. We are investigating the cause of the incident.”

It is unclear whether the power outages are linked to the fire and explosions at the Carlton Hotel.