Family declines to claim body of 70-year-old man who died in Circuit Road HDB flat fire

The family members of a 70-year-old man who died after a fire broke out in his HDB flat on Tuesday (July 28) have declined to claim his body or make funeral arrangements. 

The fire broke out in a ninth-floor unit at Block 39 Circuit Road at about 2.05am, where the man was found unconscious. 

About 80 residents were also evacuated from the block as a precaution.  

Responding to media queries, MP for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC Tin Pei Ling said she was aware of the incident and that her team rushed to the scene.

She added that her team also visited residents on July 29. 

Tin said the man was estranged from his family and that he had been living alone while relying on subsidies from the Silver Support Scheme.

She added that when the authorities contacted his family after his death, they said they were unwilling to claim his body or make funeral arrangements.

"We have contacted the Cheng Hong Welfare Association, which will assist with the funeral arrangements. We will also help with the disposal of the many items he had accumulated," she said. 

When Shin Min Daily News visited the block on Tuesday, residents living on the same floor as him said that the man was a recluse and rarely left his home. 

A neighbour who lives next door, who wished to be known only as Liang, 51, said she understood that the man had been divorced for many years.

She recalled an incident when he was hospitalised after falling at home.

He had sought her help to contact his daughter, but her calls went unanswered.

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