The elder sister of the two siblings who died in Thursday's shophouse fire faced the grim task of having to identify their bodies at the mortuary on Friday morning.

Her younger sister, Miss Ng Lay Hua, 27, and brother Yong Soon, 25, ran smack into the middle of the fire which broke out at 1.30 am on Thursday at Block 683, Hougang Avenue 8, after they fled from their flat just above the burning shops.

Miss Ng, who suffered 90 per cent burns, died at about 6.30 pm yesterday at the Singapore General Hospital's burns unit.

Her brother is still missing but relatives and friends believe the charred body of a man in his mid-20s, found at the foot of the block's badly burnt shophouse, is his.

The man's body will be identified by a DNA test, the results of which will be known in one or two days' time.

The 30-year-old sister of the two fire victims arrived at the Health Sciences Authority's mortuary at 9 am, accompanied by relatives.

Known only as Mrs Goh, she emerged a few minutes later, only to re-enter the morgue again shortly after.

When the identification was over, she broke down and wept in the arms of a relative, while her husband and several others looked on.

The fire gutted three shophouse units - a provision shop, a grocery shop and a photo-developing shop.

The victim's father, Mr Ng Ah Tee, 59, a bus driver, said he and a few neighbours had complained before about the fire hazard osed by shops storing and displaying their stocks along the walkways.