A 57-year-old man jumped from the 12th floor of an HDB block in Ang Mo Kio after remaining on a corridor ledge for nearly three hours, landing on a safety life air pack deployed by rescuers below.
The incident happened at Block 645 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 at around 3.30pm on Sept. 20. Police officers who arrived at the scene found the man sitting on the ledge outside a residential unit and assessed that he might pose a danger to himself.
Officers from the Crisis Negotiation Unit were activated, while the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) also responded. SCDF personnel found the man sitting on the 12th-floor corridor parapet and deployed two safety life air packs at the foot of the block.
According to police, the man jumped from the ledge at about 6.20pm and landed on one of the air packs. He was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in a conscious state.
Eyewitness accounts reported that the man appeared unsteady while sitting on the ledge. Residents also told local media that he had earlier attempted to enter a nearby flat when the homeowner was away, although these details were based on eyewitness accounts and were not part of the police’s official account of the incident.
The man was subsequently apprehended under Section 7(1) of Singapore’s Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008. The provision allows police to apprehend a person believed to be suffering from a mental disorder and posing a danger to themselves or others.
The incident drew attention after videos from the scene circulated online, showing emergency responders positioned around the block and the safety equipment prepared below.
The response highlights the measures emergency teams can deploy during high-risk incidents at residential buildings, including crisis negotiation, coordination between police and SCDF personnel, and the use of safety air packs.
For residents who witnessed the dramatic scene, the operation lasted for several hours before the situation ended with the man being brought to hospital alive and conscious.
