A file picture of the Long March 5B rocket debris spotted in Kuching. – @hanifDaslepzz/Twitter
SIBU: Residents of a longhouse in Sungai Asan Bayu near here were shocked when they were told that an object found on a roof could be debris from a Chinese Long March 5B rocket.
Bintangor Fire and Rescue Department station chief, Nicholas Belulin, said the object, measuring 5.8 x 7.62cm was found by the owner of a longhouse unit in Rumah Renyam, Sungai Asan Bayu when they returned home on Saturday (Aug 13) evening.
He said a team was deployed to the location 37km away and arrived there at 10.38pm.
"The object had penetrated the roof of the longhouse was lodged in a wooden beam in the house.
"Personnel from the Sibu police headquarters and Lanang police station took the object for further investigation," he said in a statement on Sunday (Aug 14).
He said according to the unit owner, the object could have been there a few weeks as his family rarely returned to the longhouse and only noticed it when they saw a hole in the roof.
The owner, in a police report at the Sungai Merah police station, stated that his neighbour told him that he heard a loud bang from the roof of his room on the night of July 30.
Sibu district police chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili said the object would be sent to the Chemistry Department and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board branch in Kuching for further analysis.
On July 31, the Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA) confirmed bright objects seen streaking across the night sky across Sarawak on July 30 were debris from the Chinese Long March 5B rocket.
Most of the debris is was reported to have fallen into the Sulu Sea. – Bernama
