Man says iron frame fell & almost hit him at Woodlands MRT station, area cordoned off

Iron frame fell reportedly fell from ventilation shaft at Woodlands MRT station

An iron frame reportedly fell from a ventilation shaft at Woodlands MRT station, narrowly missing a man who was passing by.

He said he felt like he’d “escaped death” as the object missed him by metres.

Iron frame fell to the ground at Woodlands MRT on 23 Aug

The incident took place at about 3pm on Friday (23 Aug), reported Shin Min Daily News.

The man, a 67-year-old retiree named only as Mr Chen (transliterated from Mandarin), said it was drizzling at the time.

As he was walking towards the MRT station, he passed by the fan room and heard a loud crash behind him.

When he turned, he saw that an iron frame of the ventilation shaft had become dislodged and fallen to the ground.

The frame was less than 2m behind him, he added.

He was lucky to escape death, says retiree

This was frightening as if he’d passed by just a few seconds later, he might have been hit, Mr Chen told Shin Min.

As he was in a hurry at the time, he didn’t inform the station staff about it.

However, he remembered that two women standing nearby had seen the frame fall and remarked that he was “very lucky”.

He agreed, feeling that he had escaped death.

Part of walkway cordoned off

When Shin Min visited the location on Saturday (24 Aug), the opening in the ventilation shaft had been covered with a cloth.

A portion of the walkway passing beneath the opening was also cordoned off.

As the passage is the only way to access the MRT station foot, human traffic was observed to be high.

SMRT investigating incident

Responding to Shin Min’s queries, SMRT Buses deputy managing director Vincent Gay said the operator was made aware that an iron frame of a ventilation shaft had fallen off at the Woodlands Integrated Transport Hub.

Workers promptly cordoned off the affected area to ensure the safety of passers-by, he added.

Temporary covers have also been installed, and the cause of the incident is under investigation.

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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.