Hundreds made homeless in Sandakan and Tawau incidents
Published on: Saturday, February 06, 2016
Sandakan: Hundreds of people were made homeless in separate blaze incidents here and in Tawau between Thursday night and early Friday.Some 100 families were affected in the first incident at Kg Disayang, Lupak Meluas, here, Thursday night.Sandakan Fire and Rescue Department Zone Chief Anddre Andrew said they received a call about 11pm and reached the site 15 minutes later with 23 personnel led by Nor Azizi Noh and five utility vehicles.
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"The fire was brought under control at 1.03am and the operation finished around 4.24am. There was no loss of life and the cause and total loss are still being investigated."We managed to contain the fire from spreading to a factory and a People's Housing Project (PPR) as well as a nearby village," he said.One of the victims, Rethaudin Managala, said he and his family were in their house before a blackout and then they heard shouts from the villagers at about 10.30pm.Rethaudin who lived in the house with eight other family members didn't manage to save their belongings and important documents. He has been residing in the village the past 39 years.
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Another villager, Maimun Busu, whose house was partially saved with the help of other villagers said he and his children and grandchildren were sleeping and awakened by the shouting of neighbours.Kg Disayang village chief Amirbangsa Noh said some 70 houses were involved in the incident and the victims are placed at the Taman Batu Sapi PPR Hall.
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"I hope immediate aid will be provided for the victims and the people's representatives also visited the site as well as NGOs."Last year, three houses in the village caught fire while in the 90s, another fire happened at the same area.Meanwhile, at Taman Fajar roundabout, here, an Exora caught fire and was 90 per cent damaged.Anddre said the department received a distress call at 7.46am on Friday, and reached the site at 7.57am. The fire was extinguished at 8.05am. The cause is still under investigation.In TAWAU, 40 squatter houses were destroyed (pic above), which left more than 200 homeless, the second big blaze in less than a week, here.The incident occurred at Kg Buaya, Mile 3, Jalan Apas at about 3.50am on Friday. Most of the villagers failed to secure their belongings as the fire spread quickly due to the closely built houses and windy conditions.District Fire and Rescue Department Chief Mohd Razali Awang Ahmad said they received a distress call at 3.54am and deployed 23 firemen with fire engines, water tanker and other utilities to the scene.Razali said they managed to control the fire at 4.23am and the operation ended at 7.26am."No casualties were reported in the incident and the cause of the fire as well as the total loss are still under investigation," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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