In Singapore, we are lucky to be shielded from most natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and other destructive forces of nature. So it came as a big shock when in 1986, a six-storey building inexplicably collapsed, trapping 50 people in the rubble and eventually leading to the deaths of 33. This infamous event was called the Hotel New World Collapse, after the building’s main tenant. Today, the Fortuna Hotel stands in its place, but many people do not know the tragic history before it.

yg remembers the day that Hotel New World collapsed, an unprecedented event in the nation’s history:

many young singaporeans – especially, those below 30 years of age – who drive or walk past this hotel and the many foreign visitors who stay in fortuna hotel are likely to be unaware of the tragedy that struck at this site on 15 march 1986. each time i go past this place, i will think of the event that took place some 25 years ago.

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initially, many had imagined that there were hundreds of people trapped under the debris. rescue operation was called off eight days later, on 23 march. by then, the tally showed that 50 people had been trapped when the building collapsed. 17 people were rescued and 33 were killed. of the 33 who died, 23 were singaporeans and the rest, foreigners.

Read the rest of his reflections here. For more information about the Hotel New World Collapse, read this entry in the library infopedia.