Pawan Kalyan meets son injured in deadly Singapore fire; several kids were 'badly burnt, eyes rolled back'

Pawan Kalyan

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan met his youngest son Mark Shankar in Singapore hospital, where he is receiving treatment for burn injuries and lung complications due to smoke inhalation he sustained from a fire accident at a shophouse in the Southeast Asian country, Janasena party sources said.

Mark Shankar is steadily recovering, a press release from the party noted.

A 10-year-old girl died and 20 others — including Kalyan's son — were injured in the incident.

Six adults aged between 23 and 55, and 16 children aged six to 10 — including Kalyan's seven-year-old younger son — were rescued from the three-storey building on River Valley Road.

Police said the girl was taken to hospital but later died.

"Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play. Police investigations are ongoing," Channel News Asia reported, quoting police.

Some of the rescued children were unconscious, their eyes rolled back, and they were badly burnt, the channel cited an eyewitness Shaik Amirudin, a personal trainer, as saying from the fire site on the outskirts of Central Business District.

Kalyan’s younger son, Mark Shankar, sustained injuries in the fire at the school, his Jana Sena Party said in a statement released in Vijayawada.

The incident caused burns to Mark’s hands and legs, while smoke inhalation also affected his lungs and he is currently receiving treatment in a hospital there, the party said.

Addressing the media, Andhra Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan said on Tuesday: "I initially thought it was a minor fire accident. Later, I realised the magnitude of the situation. One child has lost their life, and many others are currently hospitalised. My son is in the hospital undergoing a bronchoscopy. I received a call from the Prime Minister’s Office, assuring me that all necessary support from their side will be provided. They also initiated a dialogue with the Indian High Commissioner there. I am extremely grateful to Prime Minister Modi Ji for the call."

The party said in a Facebook post Kalyan would travel to Singapore after completing his earlier commitments.

As the fire began, some construction workers from a nearby site leapt into action and helped carry the children down, and Shaik said he assisted by supporting the base of the scaffolding they were using.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the incident at 278 River Valley Road at about 9:45 am. The fire was extinguished with three water jets within 30 minutes. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, the blaze was raging on the second and third floors. About 80 people in the shophouse and nearby premises were evacuated by the police and SCDF. Twenty affected people were taken to hospital, SCDF said at the time.

The last person to be rescued – who he believes was a teacher – was seen distressed and crying as she was carried out of the building on a stretcher, the Channel had an eyewitness as saying.

The bystander, who only wanted to be known as Will, said he saw several women crying and asking the police about the safety of their children. The police then guided the women to a separate area to assist them further.

Among the construction workers who mounted the rescue after seeing the thick, black smoke was Subramanian Saranraj, an Indian-origin lorry driver.

Noticing the children being helped out onto the window ledge by adults, their faces covered in soot, he and his four colleagues grabbed the scaffolding they were working on, along with a ladder, and rushed across the road to help.

"I felt scared, but not for myself. I felt scared for the children, because they were so small and couldn't climb out on their own. There were many children, and I saw their faces, many were crying," he said.

Videos posted on social media show children sitting on a third-storey ledge as plumes of black smoke billow.

The three-storey building houses several educational classes for children, including a cooking school, a theatre group and a robotics school.

Staff from Newtonshow, the children's enrichment centre that occupied the burnt shophouse, were gathered at a cafe nearby, next to another one of its branches. They declined to speak to the media, according to the Channel report.

Newtonshow is under the same ownership as the Orange Mood Group education centre, whose name is on the signboard at the front of the building.