Right now, in a flat in Sembawang, a 2-year-old boy is held hostage by a 39-year-old man as police wait outside and attempt to secure the child’s release.
The stand-off has been going on for nearly 16 hours now, ever since the authorities were alerted to the incident at Block 462 Sembawang Drive around 6.44pm yesterday.
Reportedly, the man locked his girlfriend out of the fifth-storey flat and barricaded himself inside with her son. The youngest of four siblings, the boy is said to be safe and unharmed, and has access to food and water at home.
Negotiations are currently ongoing as various agencies including the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) and the police Special Tactics and Rescue (STAR) team stood by for several hours. Officers from Ang Mo Kio Division, Crisis Negotiation Unit and Special Operations Command are managing the crisis.
As you can imagine, it has been a dramatic night at the block, which has been cordoned off. An inflatable lifepack has been set up at the foot of the block in case of any attempts to jump, while DART personnel stand ready to rappel down into the flat to rescue the boy.
As negotiations continue, it’s understood that the hostage crisis is a result of a family dispute. The New Paper found out from neighbours that the man and his girlfriend were often heard quarrelling ever since they moved into the flat a few months ago.
Before the police were called yesterday, the girlfriend was seen knocking furiously on the door, asking to be let in.
This story is developing and will continue to be updated with more details.
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