7. 25 May 1961 – Bukit Ho Swee Fire
(Accidents)
A disaster that had a direct impact on the development of public housing in our country, Bukit Ho Swee Fire took away a life, injured dozens and made at least 16,000 homeless. Most of the attap houses in the squatter settlement were destroyed as the fire spread rapidly by the strong winds in the late afternoon.
The self-government of Singapore acted promptly over the next four years by building many low-cost public flats in Queenstown and other estates to reallocate the refugees. The root cause of this disaster, the largest fire ever in Singapore’s history, however remains unknown till this day.
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