Woman suffers multiple cuts after glass shower door falls on her during Sentosa staycation

A woman's family staycation turned sour after she had to be taken to hospital.

Suziyana Hamid, 41, and her family had checked into Siloso Beach Resort on June 15 to celebrate her daughter's 12th birthday.

After taking a shower the following morning, she pulled the glass door open but it came off its hinges, hitting her and shattering into pieces, the Straits Times reported.

"I shielded my face with my hands, and the shards cut my scalp, arms and chest," Suziyana said, adding that her cries woke her daughter who tried to calm her by saying "Mum, you'd be okay".

The woman, a senior executive in a local non-profit organisation, suffered several cuts including one measuring 8cm on her inner arm, Shin Min Daily News reported on Friday (June 24).

"If this happened to my daughter or parents, the consequences would be unimaginable". 

Suziyana told the Chinese evening daily that when her husband called the front desk for help, there was no manager on duty. 

Addressing her concerns, a Siloso Beach Resort spokesperson told Shin Min that upon receiving a call from the guest, the senior staff on duty immediately sent someone to the room to understand the situation and also called for an ambulance.

According to the spokesperson, the hotel underwent renovations two years ago and there hasn't been an incident like this in over 10 years of operations. Siloso Beach Resort will also look into the matter and prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force told AsiaOne that they received a call for assistance at the hotel on June 16 at 4.30am and subsequently conveyed the woman to Singapore General Hospital.

Suziyana hasn't heard from the hotel after she was discharged from hospital, The Straits Times reported.

While the woman thought she was fine, the incident left her shaken.

"I slept poorly and found it hard to breathe when I was working, so my doctor suggested that I go see a psychiatrist," she told Shin Min, adding that the sight of children playing near glass doors frightens her nowadays.

Glass spontaneously shattering in homes

In recent years, there have been several reports of glass spontaneously shattering in homes.

Last March, a man was nearly hit by the shards of a glass sliding door that suddenly shattered after he walked through them. 

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Several people suffered burns and cuts after the glass table top exploded 30 minutes into their hotpot dinner in January 2020.

Another woman living in Sengkang was startled after the glass-top stove in her kitchen shattered and sent shards flying into the living room.

Tempered glass — commonly used in shower doors, stove tops and table tops — is known to be four times stronger than untreated glass.

However, impurities such as nickel sulphite can cause microfractures in the glass during the heating process, Victor Sia from SG Glass told The New Paper.

Other possible causes of tempered glass shattering include overheating the glass, collision with hard objects and placing heavy items on glass surfaces.

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lamminlee@asiaone.com