72-year-old man found dead in Whampoa flat after odour and leaking brown droplets alarm neighbours

A 72-year-old man was found dead inside his Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat in Whampoa after neighbours complained of a foul odour lingering for several days and brown droplets seeping through a downstairs unit’s ceiling.

The incident occurred at Block 76 Lorong Limau, where residents initially believed the smell and leaking liquid were caused by a burst water pipe or nearby garbage collection activities.

According to local media outlet Shin Min Daily News, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) received a report of a non-natural death on 16 May 2026.

The man was found lying motionless inside his three-room flat and was pronounced dead at the scene. Preliminary police investigations ruled out homicide, although investigations remain ongoing.

Odour persisted for days

A downstairs tenant, identified as Ingliz, 29, told Shin Min that she first noticed a strange smell about three days earlier.

The healthcare worker initially assumed the odour came from garbage trucks operating nearby and did not think much of it.

However, after returning home from work on Thursday, she realised the smell had not disappeared and began suspecting something was wrong.

By Friday evening, the odour had reportedly become unbearable.

She said the smell would drift into the flat whenever the wind blew, forcing residents to keep their windows shut.

Brown droplets leaked from ceiling

Ingliz said another tenant staying in the master bedroom later discovered brown droplets continuously leaking from the ceiling.

The tenants initially suspected a burst pipe from the upstairs unit.

She described the droplets as foul-smelling liquid that dripped onto the floor and caused considerable distress to those living in the flat.

The matter was subsequently reported to the landlord, who arranged for HDB officers to inspect the unit.

According to Ingliz, officers who arrived later determined the issue was not related to plumbing.

As the smell worsened, the residents decided to contact the police, leading to the discovery of the deceased man inside the upstairs flat.

Neighbours describe deceased as quiet

Residents living on the same floor said the elderly man largely kept to himself and rarely interacted with neighbours.

A 68-year-old resident surnamed Guo said he seldom saw the deceased and only exchanged simple greetings during occasional encounters.

Another neighbour, 88-year-old Hong, who lived next door to the deceased, said relatives used to visit more frequently when the man’s mother was still alive.

However, after his mother died during the COVID-19 pandemic, the man reportedly became increasingly withdrawn and interacted less with others.

Hong described the deceased as quiet and not particularly talkative.

He added that the man usually watered plants every morning but rarely went out.

According to the neighbour, it was not unusual for residents not to see the man for several days at a time.

Residents remain in flat after incident

Ingliz said she and the other tenants were not overly frightened by the incident because they worked in the healthcare sector.

She added that the body had since been removed and the leaking from the ceiling had stopped.

The odour was also gradually fading, and the tenants expected conditions in the flat to improve after cleaning works were completed.

She said they intended to continue staying in the unit.

Growing concern over ‘lonely deaths’

The cases come amid broader concerns over so-called “lonely deaths” in Singapore, as the country moves towards becoming a super-aged society in 2026, with more than 20 per cent of its population aged 65 and above.

Figures compiled by social service group Loving Heart from media reports and online sources such as Death Kopitiam Singapore indicate that at least 33 seniors died undetected in 2025, compared with at least 42 cases in 2024.

Authorities do not systematically track such deaths, according to a 2024 parliamentary reply.

In October 2025, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said there were about 87,000 residents aged 65 and older living alone in 2024 — a 50 per cent increase from 58,000 in 2018.

He noted that community outreach efforts, including befriending programmes by the Silver Generation Office, grassroots volunteers and active ageing centres, are key to preventing such cases.