21 families lose homes in Kota Marudu stall fire
Published on: Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Kota Marudu: Eighty people from 21 families were left homeless after their homes in Kg Tonson here were razed to the ground at 8.15pm on Sunday.According to District Police Chief Supt Mohd Izaan Abdullah, the fire destroyed a one-storey building which housed stalls selling groundnuts and snacks and a row of houses at the back."Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire started from stall No. 24. During that time, the owner had already left the premises. The business operator of the next stall broke into the stall No. 24 but failed to prevent the fire from spreading to other stalls," he said.
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Fortunately, he said nobody was hurt in the incident and the Fire and Rescue Department personnel managed to put out the fire at 9.45pm.The cause of the fire and estimated losses are still under investigation.All victims took temporary shelter at the Kg Tonson community hall and were attended to by the Welfare Department.Kota Marudu MP Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili also visited the scene of the fire before meeting the victims.
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The victims include seven senior citizens, 17 children and two infants.Meanwhile, in KENINGAU, three families lost all their valuables when the wooden house they were living in was destroyed in a fire on Monday.
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Deputy Chief of the Keningau Fire and Rescue Services Department, Ariffin Harris, said no casualties were reported in the 2.30pm incident in Kg Limbawan.He said the fire almost destroyed two other neighbouring houses but the department's 28-man team managed to control the fire before putting it out completely two hours later. According to one of the victims, Nurfadilah Registly @ Ghazaly, 27, she and her children were rudely awakened from their afternoon nap by the smell of smoke."The moment we saw the fire, my husband and I didn't have time for anything else except to take our children out of the house," she said, recalling how the fire was spreading fast.Her neighbour, Nuraidah Zakaria, 52, said she ran out of her house as quick as she could after hearing the others calling for help.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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