Having an air-conditioner is a must-have for every household, especially when the weather gets too hot to handle.
Unfortunately for one man in Singapore, he got more than just cooling air from a used aircon he had installed at his home after it exploded and sent two persons to the hospital.
Installed used aircon for daughter with sensitive skin
Shin Min Daily News reported that the incident occurred on Thursday (Apr 27) at around 3.40pm at a flat located at Jalan Bukit Merah in Singapore.
A man surnamed Chen (transliteration), whose aircon had set off a fire at the flat, told a reporter from the news outlet that he lives with his wife and two children aged 8-years-old and 19-months-old respectively.
He explained that a neighbour had left behind their aircon after they moved out last year and he decided to bring it back home as his daughter would develop rashes if it got too warm.
I work as a driver and my family isn’t well off. When a neighbour moved away, I found that they had left behind an aircon unit. So I brought it home to install. I never once thought that it would explode like that.
Aircon emits white smoke and explodes
After a year of using the aircon, Chen saw that it began to emit white smoke and fled from the house with his family to avoid danger.
One of Chen’s neighbours named Rafid told the reporter that he heard strange noises from the aircon when he left the house. When he saw that a fire had broken out, he immediately rushed back as his 77-year-old mother and two grandsons were at home.
While he managed to save his family, both of Rafid’s grandsons had to be admitted to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
A group of Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighters later rushed to the scene and successfully put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
As for Chen, he said he was thankful that his family was unscathed by the fire, adding that the authorities have found him a temporary place to live in.
Recently, a man was shocked to find a room with half an aircon being rented out for RM250:
