Woman who waited for hours for brother arriving at T2: I was not told about fire
Miss Sandra Taylor, 33, arrived at Changi Airport around 5.55pm on Tuesday to pick her brother up, only to find Terminal 2 (T2) sealed off, with ambulances and police cars outside.
She went to T1 and tried checking with the staff at the information counter, but they did not tell her of a fire in T2.
Thousands of passengers were affected after 40 flights were delayed by the fire that broke out in T2 on Tuesday.
Miss Taylor told The New Paper over the phone: "I did not know what was happening and was wracked with anxiety for over two hours."
She added that at 8.30pm, an announcement was made that the situation was under control in T2 but there was no mention of a fire.
"I was so worried and tried to contact my brother repeatedly but there was no signal."
Her brother was on a Tigerair flight from Ho Chi Minh and she spent more than four hours waiting in the airport.
"The passengers who were on the same flight as my brother were waiting on the tarmac. He told me that there was nothing to eat and drink while they were there. The queue for the luggage was another hour and a half," she said.
Financial advisor Lok Tak Ming, 57, had to wait in the aircraft for almost two hours.
Mr Lok, who was also on a Tigerair flight, said passengers received regular updates on the situation in the terminal.
He added that when they collected their luggage at T1, it was very crowded.
He said: "Usually there would be one flight per belt but every belt had three to five flights so it was quite messy at first."
However, he said that staff on the ground were helpful and gave clear, concise instructions.
A part-time staff member at the Duty Free Singapore Wines & Spirits in T2 told TNP that along with others in the terminal, he had to wait on the tarmac for four hours after evacuation. He added that those waiting were given water and the elderly were escorted elsewhere to wait.
"The airport staff were keeping the crowd informed through a megaphone, " he said.
He saw a woman who felt faint and was eventually taken away on a stretcher.
Check-in procedures were conducted at Terminal 3 until T2 resumed operations at 3am yesterday. - Additional reporting by JULIA TAN, ALYSHA CHANDRA & FENG YUAN WEN
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