3 sent to hospital, about 100 evacuated after ammonia leak at Jurong West factory

UPDATE: This story has been amended to reflect the location of the ammonia leak and the ownership of Ben Foods.

Three people were conveyed to a hospital following an ammonia leak at a food distribution company in Jurong West, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force on Friday (26 January).

In a Facebook post, SCDF said that the casualties, who were first decontaminated by being doused with water, were conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in a “conscious and stable condition”.

The SCDF was first alerted at 11.40am to the incident at Ben Foods located at 1 Fishery Port Road. The leak had occurred in a chiller room on the first floor of its building. About 100 workers were evacuated from the premises before SCDF arrived.

Ben Foods is housed in NCS Cold Stores, a multi-temperature warehouse, according to its website. Both are subsidiaries of food company QAF. According to SCDF, the neighbouring premises were not affected by the leak.

The leak was shut off by the company and its staff were evacuated prior to the SCDF’s arrival, added the SCDF.

SCDF personnel are still at the scene.

In an update, SCDF added that it had picked up “low levels” of ammonia in the immediate perimeter outside the building. Its specialists detected a leak within the ceiling of the chiller room.

According to its website, Ben Foods started its business in 1958 as a commodity trader in frozen meat, dairy products, and poultry farming. Over the next two decades, it operated as a food distribution company.

Yahoo News Singapore has reached out to the company for comment.