Singapore government honours four Indian migrant workers for rescuing children from shophouse fire
They were joined by other migrant workers who were working on River Valley Road near the shophouse.
Staff from inside the shophouse placed the children one by one on the ledge just outside the window, and the workers carried the children and passed them down a human chain to safety, as reported by Tabla! There was no time for the workers to clip on safety harnesses.
They had prioritised the rescue over their own safety.
In the 10 minutes before the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived, the migrant workers had saved the lives of 10 children.
Subramanian Saranraj, 34, was one of the workers who said he would never forget the sight of children with soot marks on their faces, coughing and struggling to breathe while wailing for help.
The lorry driver had just dropped some workers off at Valley Lodge Condominium for renovation work and was driving off.
Just when he was about to make a right turn at about 9:40 am, he saw the crowd around the burning shophouse.
Saranraj, who hails from Tamil Nadu, said: "I got off the lorry immediately and through the smoke, saw a male teacher and children looking out of the window, frantically crying out for help. The fumes were getting bigger, and we didn't have much time."
He added, "We, too have, children. Had it been our kids, would we have stood by and done nothing?" Those words were echoed by his colleague Nagarajan Anbarasan, 37, who was also among the first responders.
"When we saw the children in distress, we couldn't bear it."
They decided against running up the stairs to get to the children as the smoke was too thick.
Saranraj said: "We didn't have any protective equipment to guard against the fumes. We were not familiar with the building either and didn't know where the stairs were. So we went for the windows."
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