Man, 69, found dead in Sembawang HDB flat after neighbour smells strong odour from house
https://mothership.sg/2025/04/man-found-dead-sembawang-hdb/
A 69-year-old man was found dead in a Sembawang flat on Apr. 5 after his neighbour noticed he had not gone out for several days and smelled a stench coming out of his window.
When the neighbour called the man's mobile number, a phone rang from inside the flat but no one picked up, and houseflies flew out instead.
Police told
Mothership that on Apr. 5 at about 10:50am, they received a call for assistance at Block 478 Sembawang Drive.
A 69-year-old man was found lying motionless in a residential unit and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neighbour tried to call his phone
Two police cars were parked at the block at around 1pm, and a strong odour could be smelled on the 10th floor of the block,
Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) reported.
About seven to eight police officers were conducting investigations at a unit there.
A resident of the block told
Shin Min that she knew the deceased, an elderly man who lived in the flat.
She said she would occasionally see the deceased doing morning exercises in the neighbourhood, or eating at a nearby coffeeshop, and was shocked to hear of his passing.
The deceased's next-door neighbour, surnamed Huang (transliteration), told
Shin Min that the last time his family saw the deceased alive was about six days ago, on Mar. 30.
On Apr. 4, Huang smelled an odour, but did not give much thought to it at the time.
It was only on Apr. 5, when Huang realised the stench was coming from his neighbour's flat window, when he suspected something was amiss.
Huang obtained his neighbour's number and dialled it, but no one picked up the phone.
"When I heard the phone ringing from inside the flat, and saw houseflies flying out, I knew something must have happened to him, so I called the police immediately," said Huang.
Police told
Mothership that based on preliminary investigations, they do not suspect foul play.
Top image from Shin Min Daily News