News
He allegedly placed a lit cigarette on a stack of cardboard boxes before leaving the flat.
January 15, 2026, 04:21 PM
A 60-year-old man has been charged over his purported role in the 2022 Bedok North flat fire that claimed the lives of four people, including a three-year-old girl.
On May 13, 2022, at around 6:35am, Ithnin Hurdi had allegedly “substantially” contributed to the risk of causing a fire “by placing a lighted cigarette on a cardboard box in the living room” of the fourth-floor unit at Blk 409 Bedok North Avenue 2.
On Jan. 14, 2026, he was charged with causing or contributing to the risk of dangerous fire, according to court documents.
He was also charged with an unrelated offence of causing grievous hurt to a pedestrian on the same day.
Fire claimed 4 lives
As previously reported by Mothership, five people resided in the flat.
Aileen Chan, 56, the homeowner who was in a relationship with Ithnin and three tenants: 35-year-old Tan Soon Keong, his then 34-year-old wife Kwa Poey Yee (also known as Jenny) and their three-year-old daughter Tan Hui En.
Firefighters found Chan severely burnt, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The family of three was found unresponsive and was rushed to the hospital, where the father and daughter died on the same morning.
Their cause of death was fume inhalation.
In November 2023, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda ruled that their deaths were an unfortunate misadventure, reported The Straits Times.
Kwa, the sole survivor of the blaze, passed away in a Kuala Lumpur hospital on Mar. 24, 2024, after being in a prolonged vegetative state for two years due to smoke inhalation.
She had brought her daughter, who lived in Malaysia, over to Singapore merely three days before the fire.
The findings
In the ST article, Nakhoda stated that Ithnin got up at 5:20am on May 13, 2022, to get ready for work.
As Chan was packing his breakfast, Ithnin lit a cigarette in the master bedroom, and later sat on a recliner sofa in the living room to put on his shoes and allegedly placed the lit cigarette on a neighbouring stack of cardboard boxes before leaving the flat.
At around 5:45am, Ithnin realised his mistake and sent two voice messages to Chan asking her to retrieve the unattended cigarette.
Chan replied to Ithnin and supposedly got rid of the cigarette before returning to her room.
However, the cigarette had been unattended for 10 to 15 minutes.
Hot ash, embers or the lit tip of the cigarette could have caused the box to smoulder, stated Nakhoda.
Around 45 minutes later, the living room was ablaze.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted to the scene by neighbours at around 6:30am, and firefighters extinguished the fire by 7:05am.
Ithnin has an unrelated charge of causing grievous hurt
According to the charge sheets, Ithnin has an unrelated charge resulting from a traffic collision between his van and a pedestrian.
On Oct. 6, 2023, at around 6:44am, at a traffic junction near Spooner Road by Kampong Bahru Road, Ithnin allegedly failed to give way while turning right, while the traffic signal for pedestrians was showing the “green man”.
The 32-year-old man suffered grievous injuries from the collision.
His case will be mentioned again on Feb. 11, 2026.
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Top photo from SCDF/Facebook.
