08-05-2025
Bed bugs crawl out of AMK flat; residents stock up on insecticide
Residents were plagued by bed bugs constantly coming from a neighbour's unit whose occupant has been hospitalised for weeks.
The incident happened at Block 420 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, a block of rental flats.
Mr Zhang, 40, told Shin Min Daily News that the infestation of bed bugs crawled along the corridor on April 13. Many of them entered his flat and crawled on the walls, sofa and bed.
"I checked and found that the bed bugs were pouring out of a neighbour's unit on the same floor," he said.
"The bed bugs even entered the next-door units and the facing flat."
The man living in the unit was reportedly hospitalised after a fall and hasn't been home since then.
When a Shin Min reporter visited the block, there were many dead bed bugs in front of the door of the unit, and water stains on the corridor.
At least seven neighbouring units were affected by the infestation.
The bed bugs entered the homes of neighbours through door seams and windows. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
Madam Jie Ya, 58, who lives opposite the unit, told the Chinese daily that the largest number of bed bugs she had seen at home on one occasion was about 50 of them, and some were laying eggs on her furniture.
"The bed bugs crawled onto the bed and bit me. I couldn't sleep for a few days and I had to take days off."
She admitted that she poured water on the corridor to prevent bed bugs from crawling into her house, and she also stuffed towels in the door seams to block their passage, but her efforts were in vain.
Madam Artie, 50, who lives below the unit, revealed that her skin felt itchy some time ago, and she later found many bed bugs in her home.
She believed that they crawled into the house through the window.
Mr Zhang shared that bed bugs require a specific insecticide: "The usual ones don't work on them. After my family discovered that, we bought our neighbours insecticide for bed bugs."
Madam Jiang Huiqing, 78, who lives next to the unit, said she spent a few hundred dollars on insecticides.
Another neighbour, Madam Zhou Yufeng, 69, bought five cans and finished four cans in three days: "We sprayed all the areas, including the corridor and lift."
Madam Jiang said that the authorities fumigated the affected areas two weeks ago and cleaned the man's unit last week after obtaining his permission.
She noted that the situation improved after the fumigation and many rounds of cleaning.
