300 made jobless after Sandakan hypermarket blaze

The destroyed Servay Hypermarket after the midnight fire on Tuesday.

KOTA KINABALU: More than 300 people were made jobless when the hypermarket they were employed in was destroyed in a midnight fire in Sandakan.

The fire that razed the Servay Hypermarket on Tuesday was discovered by a security guard on duty.

This is the second Servay Hypermarket in Sabah to be destroyed in a fire, about six years after the first was burnt down in Penampang in 2008.

Sandakan district police chief Assist Comm Rowell Marong said the double-storey building was almost totally destroyed when policemen arrived at the scene.

District fire station chief Jemishin Ujin said three fire engines with 27 firemen were dispatched to the scene after a distress call at about 12.08am on Wednesday.

“We are still investigating the cause of fire and total losses,” he said, adding that the fire was brought under control at about 3.38am.

Jemishin said the fire was spreading rapidly and stretched the efforts of the firemen in containing and extinguishing the blaze.