KUCHING: The atmosphere of the Gawai Day celebration in Sarawak was marred when a man died while five terrace houses were destroyed in two separate fire incidents that occurred in Bintulu.
According to the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department operations centre, the first incident on Saturday night (May 31) left 21 people homeless, while another fire early Sunday morning (May 31) claimed the life of one victim
In the first incident, five single-storey terrace houses of the permanent structure were 100% destroyed in a fire at Kidurong MLNG Housing, Jalan Abang Usop, Bintulu, on Saturday night.
The emergency call was received at 11.43pm on Saturday. 18 department personnel from the Kidurong Fire and Rescue Station and Bintulu station managed to extinguish the fire at 6.25am on Sunday.
In the second incident, a man identified as Wong Jun Din, in his 50s, was confirmed dead in a fire at a non-permanent house on Jalan Sibiew, near SJK Siong Boon at 2:32am on Sunday.
"The victim is believed to have been trapped but was successfully pulled out by other residents in an unconscious state with burn marks all over his body, before being confirmed dead by the Ministry of Health medical team at the scene," said a statement on the PGO's official WhatsApp.
Three other occupants were reported to have survived the incident.
The cause of the fire and the total loss from both incidents are still under investigation. – Bernama
