THE principal of a Singapore-owned pre-school in Chengdu was forced to remain on the streets late last night as her high-rise flat was deemed unsafe.

Australian Sarah Moore of EtonHouse, which has some Singaporean pupils, was still awaiting the all- clear, according to the school's owner Ng Gim Choo.

The number of Singaporeans based in Chengdu is not known, but estimates by sources put the number of Singapore companies in the city at 200. These could include the blue-chips such as Keppel Land and CapitaLand.

EtonHouse's Mrs Ng, who is in Zhejiang province on a business trip, told The Straits Times that she heard about the earthquake at about 2.30pm.

'Immediately, the first thing that came to my mind was the safety of the teachers and the students,' she said.

It took her almost two hours to get hold of her staff in Chengdu, which is about 100km from the quake epicentre in Wenchuan county.

They told her that the three-storey building housing the pre-school had started swaying, which forced the teachers to evacuate the children.

The pre-school has more than 20 staff members and about 100 children, including those of Singapore families based in Chengdu.

'There are some cracks to the pillars. The school is closed and we are getting the engineer to inspect the structure before we resume lessons,' Mrs Ng added.

By last night, all the children had been picked up by their parents, except for one child, who had to be sent home by a staff member later in the evening.

Mrs Ng, who hopes to fly with her team to Chengdu today, added that the staff were trying to get some food as they were not allowed to return to their high-rise flats. 'The streets are very crowded,' she added.

She is also trying to contact the staff at the Xian branch. Although it is believed that the damage there has been minimal, communications have been down.

OCBC Bank also has branches in Chengdu, which employ some 60 staff. Its spokesman said: 'Tremors were felt at our branches. All our staff are safe and accounted for.

'Staff and customers from both branches were evacuated and no one was hurt. Preliminary checks showed that there is minor damage to our offices. We are awaiting clearance from the authorities to resume operations.'

A spokesman added that the quake had struck just as OCBC China's general manager in Chengdu, Mr Tan Peng Kok, was entering a building in Chongqing.

Someone shouted for them to run, so Mr Tan and others rushed out onto the street.

United Overseas Bank also has a branch in Chengdu.

Surbana Corporation, which builds townships, has an office in Chengdu with some 40 staff that provides consultancy services in master planning, architectural and engineering design and project management.

Property companies CapitaLand and Keppel Land are examples of other companies which have developments in Chengdu.

A CapitaLand spokesperson told The Straits Times that none of its China offices had reported any incidents.

The Straits Times also understands that, based on initial reports, Keppel Land's operations were unaffected.