Many will recall the many accidents that happened at JEM, a rather popular suburban mall in Jurong East. Now it seems that Singapore’s latest shopping attraction, Jewel Changi, is getting lots of attention, for the wrong reasons. Perhaps it’s the letter “J” that’s behind the troubles.
The latest, very unfortunate accident, and the worst to date, involves an eighteen-month toddler who has died after a standing mirror falls on her in a fashion store at Jewel Changi. The accident happened yesterday. The toddler was taken to Changi General Hospital where she was subsequently pronounced dead.
In a previous accident, a fourteen-year-old girl suffered a deep cut on her face after playing at the Mirror Maze attraction at Canopy Park on 19th June. She was originally brought to an airport clinic at Terminal 3, but was later referred to a hospital for treatment. Her cut required nine stitches.
This wasn’t even the first accident at Canopy Park. Just five days earlier, a woman sustained a deep cut on her finger after tripping on the sky nets attraction.
On 24th June, a boy had his foot stuck in an escalator. The Singapore Civil Defence Force needed to use rescue tools to free the boy’s foot, after which he was taken to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital by ambulance.
Another similar escalator accident occurred in May when a five-year-old boy’s slipper became caught, resulting in a minor cut on his toe.
The question of safety at Jewel Changi was brought up in Parliament. A written reply by the Minister of Transport on 8th July reveals that there had been five escalator related accidents, and four accidents at Canopy Park.
In none of the accidents were there signs of design issues or technical problems. Nine accidents, however, in just the short time that Jewel Changi has opened, seems a little alarming. Perhaps they are just a little jinxed. Like JEM had been