3 bodies in 1 week: Elderly residents who lived alone found dead in Whampoa, Clementi and Hougang

The body of an elderly woman who lived alone was found in her flat at Block 460, Clementi Avenue 3 on Wednesday (April 3), marking the third such case reported this week.

The deceased, 87, was discovered in the living room. She was believed to have died after suffering a fall, according to a neighbour interviewed by Shin Min Daily News.

A foreign domestic worker who worked for a neigbour's family told the Chinese evening daily that she and her employer had first detected a foul smell in the air on Monday.

"I thought it was the stench of rotting food and didn't think much about it," she said. However, the smell only got stronger and the police were eventually called in.

"When the police came, they told us to close our front door," the helper said.

According to Shin Min, police confirmed that they had received a report on the unnatural death. An 87-year-old woman was found unconscious in the flat and later pronounced dead.

Preliminary investigations show that no crime was believed to have been committed and the case is still under investigation.

Just a day earlier, the body of another elderly woman was found in her flat in Whampoa, Shin Min reported.

Neighbours had noticed a stench for five days before notifying the police on Tuesday.

The deceased, who was in her seventies, had lived alone in the flat at Block 8, Saint Georges Lane.

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A helper who lived one floor above the woman had detected a foul odour from outside their kitchen window on Monday.

The smell got stronger the next morning, which prompted the helper to investigate the source of the stench, reported Shin Min.

She called the police after knocking on the deceased's door several times and getting no response.

A neighbour who lived on the same floor as the deceased told reporters that the elderly woman had lived with her father and brother before they both died.

"She was a kind-hearted person and we would always greet each other whenever we met," said the neighbour.

Police confirmed that the case of unnatural death was reported and that a 75-year-old woman was found in the unit and later pronounced dead. The case, which was not found to be criminal in nature, is under investigation.

Body of man found in Hougang

In the third case this week, the decomposing body of a 67-year-old man was found on Tuesday in his flat at Block 175B Hougang Avenue 1.

The man was described to be friendly and a "good person" by neighbours. His death came as a shock to them as he appeared to be healthy and had no known illnesses.

Another neighbour shared that she had never seen anyone visiting him.

"Even during the Chinese New Year, I never saw anyone visiting," she said.

When contacted, police told Shin Min that the case is under investigation and there were no criminal elements involved.

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candicecai@asiaone.com