Hotel New World disaster

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Hotel New World collapse

The Hotel New World in Singapore collapsed on 15 March 1986, killing 33 people.

A one-star budget hotel, Hotel New World was situated at the junction of Serangoon Road and Owen Road. The six-storey building (with one basement carpark) collapsed suddenly on 15 March, 1986 at 11:26 a.m. The building was only 15 years old.

After the collapse, many passers-by began to try pulling out survivors. They were soon joined by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the Singapore Armed Forces. A nearby shophouse, Eagle Piano Company, became a center for the rescue operation.

As there were survivors buried in the rubble, the rescue was a delicate operation. Debris was carefully removed as power saws and drills cut through the rubble.

Sound detectors were used to locate survivors beneath the slabs by picking up faint moans and cries. In the first 12 hours, 9 people were rescued. At one time, a doctor crawled through narrow spaces inside the rubble in a heroic effort to provide assistance to trapped survivors, giving glucose and saline drips to them.

Tunnelling experts from Britain, Ireland and Japan who were involved in the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit joined in the effort and helped rescue an additional eight survivors.

After the seven-day rescue operation, 17 people were rescued, but 33 people lost their lives.

[edit] Inquiry

An inquiry investigating the cause of the accident tested for many potential causes. Surviving sections of concrete were tested to ensure they were to proper construction standards, and it was found that they were. Even the construction work of the underground railway tunnelers who had assisted in the rescue was investigated, even though the excavations were more than 100 yards from the collapsed building. It was found they had no effect on the building's stability.

Also investigated were the various additions made to the building after its initial construction. Air conditioning systems had been constructed on the roof of the building, the bank had added a large safe, and ceramic tiles had been fixed to the building's exterior, all adding considerably to the building's weight.

It was found that the weight of these additions was inconsequential; however this line of investigation led to the discovery that the original architect had made a serious error in calculating the building's dead load, the weight of the building itself. The architect had calculated the building's live load, the weight of the building's potential inhabitants, furniture, fixtures and fittings. However the building's dead load was completely omitted from the calculation. This meant that the building as constructed could not support its own weight. Collapse was only a matter of time and after three different supporting columns had failed in the days before the disaster the other columns, which took on the added weight no longer supported by the failed columns, could not support the building.

Following this disaster, the government introduced tighter regulations on building construction. In addition, the SCDF underwent a significant upgrade, in terms of training and equipment, to improve its readiness in performing complex rescue operations.