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SINGAPORE – A bomb exploded, fast fire was fired and sour smoke flooded the Tampines West MRT station on Sunday (27 January).
All of this was part of a simulated terrorist attack at the Downtown Line Station, involving two gunmen and a suicide bomber.
Called Exercise Quicksand, it is an unplanned public transport exercise led by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and supported by the Singapore Civil Defense Force, the United States. Land Transport Authority and SBS Transit. About 120 agency actors and observers took part in the exercise.
The exercise began around 1 pm Sunday when the two armed men carrying big backpacks entered the MRT station.
A shootout erupted when transport safety officers attempted to arrest the gunmen. Three passengers from the station hid behind a wall to report the attack to the police via SMS to 71999. One of the passengers was shot and the other two rescued him.
The police then arrived at the scene and controlled the armed men.
Meanwhile, a third man dressed in a denim jacket stopped behind the gunmen and managed to get to the train platform without getting noticed. He blew a bomb attached to his jacket, but all members of the station had been evacuated at that time.
The Quicksand exercise, the first exercise of its kind along the downtown line since it was put into service, has completed in 45 minutes. In 2014, a similar anti-terrorism exercise for transit operators was held at Dhoby Ghaut MRT.
The Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Masagos Zulkifli, who observed the Quicksand exercise, said that it was important to always be ready, whether by making sure that the agencies work together to organize such exercises or by reminding the public that terrorist attacks could take place.
"For a country like us, which is a prize to be touted for any terrorist (attacker), we are vulnerable and so we must be prepared as much as possible.
"Even to prevent such perpetrators from forming a base in Singapore for indoctrination and extreme views, we must do our best," said Masagos, also minister for Muslim affairs and MP for Tampines GRC.
The terrorist attack simulation is part of SGSecure – the national terrorist awareness movement – and aims to improve security readiness and the joint response of the local team's agencies, the operator public transportation and community through a simulated terrorist attack in a MRT station.
The commander of the Transit Security Command and Deputy Police Commissioner, Koh Wei Keong, said transit hubs have significant human traffic and are targets for terrorists.
"The exercise shows that when the community is prepared, with the necessary skills and knowledge, it can help save lives."
Police said that in terrorist attack scenarios, the public should include information such as the number of attackers, details such as their equipment and appearance, as well as the location of the attackers. attack, in their SMS to the police.
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