500 evacuated as fire breaks out at Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore

About 500 people were evacuated Wednesday morning after a fire at a luxury hotel in downtown Singapore but there were no injuries, emergency services officials said.

Television footage showed thick black smoke billowing from the Grand Hyatt Hotel near the Orchard Road shopping district, but the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the fire was quickly put out.

Marcus Ko, a 24-year-old part-time event assistant who was working outside neighboring Scotts Square, said that he noticed "mild" smoke in the area at around 11.15am.

The smoke soon got thicker and began to cover the area.

"We could smell it... the crowd started covering their faces, and it got quite unbearable once the wind direction changed," said Ko.

He added that the hotel's lobby was soon cordoned off and that the firemen arrived promptly.

At least three SCDF vehicles and one police car were at the scene.

SCDF said it responded to the fire, which took place at 10 Scotts Road, at around 11.20am.

The fire involved a kitchen stove and kitchen exhaust ducting in a restaurant on the second floor of the hotel and was extinguished by water sprinklers prior to SCDF's arrival.

Two water jets were later used for damping down operations, which refer to the application of water to burnt surfaces immediately after a fire is extinguished.

This is done to prevent any potential rekindling of the fire from hot burnt surfaces, said SCDF.

About 500 people were evacuated from the premises by security personnel as a precautionary measure.

There were no reported injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.