Bedbugs from an empty HDB flat infested at least seven nearby homes after the unit was left vacant for two weeks.
The pests spread to adjacent apartments, requiring official pest control intervention.
The infestation occurred at Block 420, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10.
Mr. Zhang, 40, told Shin Min Daily News that numerous bedbugs appeared in the corridor on April 13, 2025.
Many insects entered his home, covering his walls, furniture, and bed.
“I checked around and found the bedbugs coming from a neighbor’s flat on our floor. That neighbor left home days before this happened, and the bugs spread to homes on both sides of the corridor,” he said.
Reporters visiting the location spotted many dead bedbugs outside the unit and water traces throughout the hallway.
Jaya, 58, who lives across from the vacant flat, reported her home filled with countless bedbugs during this period.
She once counted 40 to 50 bugs, with some laying eggs on her furniture.
“Bedbugs crawled onto my bed and bit me. I couldn’t sleep for days and had to miss work,” she said.
She explained that she poured the water seen in the corridor, trying to stop bedbugs from entering her home. She also stuffed towels into door gaps as barriers, but these tactics didn’t work well.
Next-door neighbor Jiang Huiqing, 78, a retiree, faced similar problems. She noted, “That neighbor is quite nice and seems to keep cats at home.”
Downstairs resident Yati, 50, a housewife, said she recently felt itchy all over before finding many bedbugs had come into her home through the windows.
“The bedbug bites made sleeping at night difficult,” she said.
The outbreak affected at least seven neighboring units, leaving residents struggling. According to Shin Min Daily News, officials later sent teams to fumigate the affected apartments.
