Man held for swift kick on fireman over slow response

Morning blaze: The fire claiming one of the squatter houses in Kg Gelam, Sandakan.

KOTA KINABALU: A fireman was attacked by a villager while putting out a fire at the Kg Gelam squatter area in Sandakan.

The attacker, whose house was on fire, reportedly kicked and punched the fireman as he was angry that they were slow to arrive at the scene.

According to an official at the scene, the fireman who was attack­ed was not hurt and continued to work on putting out the fire which destroyed at least 35 squatter homes during the 2am incident yesterday.

The attacker was taken to the police station.

Sandakan police chief Asst Comm Azhar Hamin said the man was being held under Section 186 of the Penal Code for disrupting a civil servant from discharging his duty.

“We will be applying for a remand order on the suspect as well,” he said.

He also added that a report on the incident had been lodged.