Glass panel shatters and falls from third floor at Singapore’s Star Vista mall, injuring six

SINGAPORE, April 21 — A glass panel fell from height at The Star Vista mall in Buona Vista on Saturday morning, injuring six people.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at about 11.30am and assessed six people for injuries.

According to The Straits Times, the incident involved a glass facade panel on level three of the mall.

“The glass facade panel on level three of The Star Vista fractured,” the mall said in a statement.

“Six shoppers sustained non-life-threatening injuries such as minor cuts and lacerations.”

Four of the injured were taken to the National University Hospital, while two others declined hospital treatment.

The mall said its on-site first-aid team responded immediately and cordoned off the area as a precaution.

Photos shared with The Straits Times, as well as on social media, showed the shattered panel on the ground floor near the entrance of The Star Performing Arts Centre, next to eateries HarriAnns Nonya Table and Bingz.

Peter Hoskins, who was on the second floor when the glass fell, said he heard a loud commotion.

“There was a lot of glass on the ground,” he said.

“It certainly made me jump, thinking about where I was standing, and whether it was a good idea (to be there) or not.”

He added, “Some staff were... clearly and loudly telling people to stay away from the area,” and noted that first responders were tending to several people with bandaged heads.

HarriAnns Nonya Table confirmed the glass panel struck its seating area and said the outlet would remain closed on April 21 as a safety measure.

Another visitor, who identified herself only as Ms Heng, said she was dining nearby when she heard the crash and later saw broken glass on the ground and a crowd gathering outside HarriAnns.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said the panel was made of non-laminated tempered glass.

It said preliminary checks indicated a case of spontaneous glass breakage, likely caused by “a rare phenomenon involving microscopic impurities present in the glass”.

BCA said the building’s structure remains unaffected, and visual inspections of similar panels found no signs of defects.

The agency will issue a Notice to Maintain to the building owner, requiring a Qualified Person to investigate the cause, assess other facade panels, and recommend rectification works.

These measures must then be implemented according to the Qualified Person’s recommendations.