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Dog dies after freak accident at HDB lift

A dog was found dead on Wednesday after a freak accident outside a lift in an HDB block in Bukit Batok. (Yahoo Photo)

A dog was found dead after a freak accident at the lift lobby of an HDB block in Bukit Batok on Wednesday.

According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), it was alerted to the incident at Bukit Batok Central Block 621 at 6:21am.

SCDF said no medical assistance was required as a lift technician was already present and had released the lift doors.

According to a report on citizen website Stomp, the lift technician known as Victor said the dog owner was heading back to her flat after walking her dog, which from photos appear to be a golden retriever.

She entered the lift first while holding onto her dog's leash but as the lift doors were closing, the dog was still outside the lift.

Victor said the incident happened very quickly and the owner had no time to react.

The lift then travelled up to the third storey of the block with the lady still holding on to the dog leash, said Victor.

He also said that the owner was distraught and seen crying after the incident.



A neighbour of the dog owner told Yahoo Singapore she heard from her son that a relative of the owner was walking the dog this morning.

The neighbour, who preferred to be known as Tan and is a 67-year-old retiree, said she was told the dog had suddenly run out of the lift after initially walking in with the relative, who is in her 40s or 50s. When the lift door closed,  the relative was unable to react in time.

The neighbour also said the dog -- about 12 years old -- had a good temperament and would not bark.

She said two of the owner’s relatives would take turns to walk the dog about two to three times a day and they were very caring towards it.

Various residents in the block also said they had heard the emergency bell for the lift ringing around 6:20am.

Upon hearing the news of the tragic accident, another resident living in the block, Alex Ho who is self-employed and an owner of a Japanese Spitz, called the incident “scary”.

The 62-year-old said that he had concerns about the lift sensor systems in his HDB block.

He recounted an experience of the lift doors closing on him and only opening after one of the doors made solid contact with his arm.

The below video of a similar incident in the US is an example of what could possibly have happened, but in this case, the dog managed to wriggle free from its leash just in time.

Watch it here:

Additional reporting by Jeanette Tan