Rotting body of 68-year-old man retrieved from Bedok North 'trash flat'

Residents in Bedok North had called the police due to a pungent rotting smell coming from their neighbour's unit.

However, mountains of rubbish had to be carted out of the flat before the police were able to retrieve a decomposing body within it.

On Saturday (Sept 28) night, the body of an elderly man was found in a 12th storey unit at Blk 519, Bedok North Avenue 1. Paramedics pronounced him dead on the spot.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the flat had piles of rubbish that reached the ceiling and gave off a vile and putrid smell.

After prying the doors open, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the police had to wait for cleaners to clear the rubbish before they could reach the body.

The 68-year-old occupant was believed to have died in the kitchen.

It took the cleaners two hours to remove more than 10 waste containers of trash which ranged from plastic boxes to plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and other broken home appliances.

The deceased's neighbour told Lianhe Wanbao that the elderly man would regularly bring trash home.

While the town council would send people to clear some rubbish every week, they were unable to get his response for the past two weeks and found nothing left outside the flat.

The neighbour said that he had already found it weird then, and made a police report that night after he and other residents noticed that a foul smell wafting out from the unit.

The deceased reportedly suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure. According to his neighbours, he had rapidly lost weight in the past year, but they did not know what led to his death.

Investigations into the case of unnatural death are underway.

rainercheung@asiaone.com