July 3, 2017
By Olivia Miwil
Pictures by Abdul Rahemang Taiming.
TAWAU: ILLEGAL power connections are believed to be the main cause of the massive fire that left 1,500 Kampung Hidayat residents homeless on Saturday, said district Fire and Rescue Department operations head Martin Thomas.
He said the residents of the water village, built under the Filipino refugee settlement scheme, might have been tapping electricity illegally.
"But, we can only confirm this after receiving the laboratory results this afternoon. The settlement has existed for many years, and some villagers have stayed there for more than 20 years."
He said the department received a distress call at 3.11pm on Saturday, and deployed five fire engines with 30 personnel to the village.
Houses in the village were built on stilts and close to each other, so firefighters had a hard time putting out the blaze due to low water pressure.
Two victims, a 19-year-old boy who fell from a roof and a 15-year-old girl who had difficulty breathing, were reported to be in stable condition.
Villager Sabrimal Alimudin, 22, said he did not have time to salvage anything as he and his family were only thinking of saving their lives when the fire broke out.
"We hope to get donations in terms of clothes, drinking water and food."
Balung state assemblyman Datuk Syed Abas Syed Ali said the state government would assist the victims.
"Assistance will include monetary aid from the Sabah Zakat centre to reduce the victims' burden and to help rebuild a destroyed bridge.
"I hope the villagers will be patient while government agencies process their registration for the aid."
By Olivia Miwil
Pictures by Abdul Rahemang Taiming.
TAWAU: ILLEGAL power connections are believed to be the main cause of the massive fire that left 1,500 Kampung Hidayat residents homeless on Saturday, said district Fire and Rescue Department operations head Martin Thomas.
He said the residents of the water village, built under the Filipino refugee settlement scheme, might have been tapping electricity illegally.
"But, we can only confirm this after receiving the laboratory results this afternoon. The settlement has existed for many years, and some villagers have stayed there for more than 20 years."
He said the department received a distress call at 3.11pm on Saturday, and deployed five fire engines with 30 personnel to the village.
Houses in the village were built on stilts and close to each other, so firefighters had a hard time putting out the blaze due to low water pressure.
Two victims, a 19-year-old boy who fell from a roof and a 15-year-old girl who had difficulty breathing, were reported to be in stable condition.
Villager Sabrimal Alimudin, 22, said he did not have time to salvage anything as he and his family were only thinking of saving their lives when the fire broke out.
"We hope to get donations in terms of clothes, drinking water and food."
Balung state assemblyman Datuk Syed Abas Syed Ali said the state government would assist the victims.
"Assistance will include monetary aid from the Sabah Zakat centre to reduce the victims' burden and to help rebuild a destroyed bridge.
"I hope the villagers will be patient while government agencies process their registration for the aid."
1. Link: Fire department confirms power theft cause of fire at Kampung Hidayat.
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