Glass pane falls onto café at The Star Vista & injures 6, BCA investigating
A quiet morning brunch turned into chaos at The Star Vista on Saturday (20 Apr) when a glass pane suddenly crashed down from the third floor, injuring six diners seated at a café below.
The incident occurred at 11.30am in the Buona Vista shopping centre.
According to The Star Vista, a glass facade panel on level three “fractured in a common area“.
The panel fell onto the open seating area at the HarriAnns Nonya Table on level one.
Source: John Ethan Tong on Facebook
Photographs showed glass shards strewn all over the floor of the café. One of the upright posts designating a queueing area had been knocked askew.
A witness described the staff as shocked by the sudden incident. All the customers were quickly evacuated.
Next door, diners at Chinese eatery Bingz were also affected, as glass debris spilt into their seating area from the shattered panel.
Source: 8world News
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told MS Newsthat they assessed six people for their injuries.
Paramedics conveyed four to the National University Hospital while the remaining two declined.
Mall apologises for glass incident
The Star Vista further cordoned off the affected area immediately after the incident and installed additional safety barriers.
As a precaution, HariAnns closed their Star Vista outlet both yesterday and today (21 April).
Source: 8world News
Lianhe Zaobao reported that the staff had to perform a comprehensive cleanup to ensure no glass remained in the café, tableware, or food.
The incident did not initially affect the acai restaurant on the second floor, but glass fragments began falling into it around 15 minutes later.
As such, mall management placed a waterproof sheet over the restaurant.
More shards occasionally fell from where the panel had been installed.
Even as late as 5pm, workers in harnesses and safety gear were seen carrying out repair and inspection works at the scene of the breakage.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
“We deeply regret that this incident occurred and extend our sincere apologies to those affected.” The Star Vista said, adding that their team was in direct contact with the injured.
“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of this incident.”
BCA says glass panel spontaneously shattered
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) told MS News that it was notified of the incident by the police.
BCA engineers found that the non-laminated tempered glass panel had shattered into small pieces. The glass fragments then fell to the first floor.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
“Preliminary assessment indicates that this was a case of spontaneous glass breakage, likely caused by a rare phenomenon involving microscopic impurities present in glass.”
BCA is still investigating the exact cause of the incident. The engineers also inspected other similar glass panels in the mall but found no signs of defects.
As a precaution, it instructed the building management to install protective measures on the first and second floors where the glass panels are present.
BCA will be serving a Notice to Maintain (NTM) to the building owner.
Under this notice, the building owner has to appoint an Appropriate Qualified Person (QP) to carry out a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident.
The QP will then propose appropriate permanent rectification measures which the Star Vista will be required to implement.
Also read: Large section of ceiling suddenly collapses at JB’s KSL City Mall, sends shoppers into panic
Large section of ceiling suddenly collapses at JB’s KSL City Mall, sends shoppers into panic
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Featured image adapted from 8world News and Lianhe Zaobao.
