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Fires destroy 9 shops, 'swiftlet hotel'
Firemen in Pasir Mas are helpless to save a five-storey building and four shophouses for the lack of water nearby. — NST picture by Fazurawati Che Lah
KOTA BARU: Ten premises, including a five-storey building for swiftlets, were destroyed in separate fires here and in Pasir Mas on Saturday night, with losses estimated at more than RM1.5 million.
A woman, identified as Wan Hui Ann, was slightly injured when she jumped from the first floor of the five-storey building in Pasir Mas to escape the fire.
The 56-year-old woman was sent to Lati Hospital but only required outpatient treatment.
In the incident here, five shophouses in Jalan Zainal Abidin were destroyed by a fire that broke out at 8pm.
City fire station operations chief Azmi Mohamad said three of the shops were unoccupied.
He said 16 firemen in three engines sped to the scene after receiving an emergency call about 8.30pm.
"The five shophouses were already damaged when firemen arrived there. They took about 20 minutes to control the fire (and prevent it) from spreading to other nearby buildings," he said, adding that losses were estimated at nearly RM500,000.
Witness Eng Chen Chen, 72, said he was at the Buddhist Association office a few metres away when he saw smoke coming from the shophouses.
"The shophouses are located in front of my house and seeing this, I ran back to my house to save my two grandchildren.
"After saving them, I asked my neighbour to call the firemen while my other neighbours and I tried to put out the fire," he said.
In Pasir Mas, state Fire and Rescue Department director Azmi Osman said 40 firemen were sent to the scene of a fire at a row of four shophouses and a five-storey building.
He said the four shophouses comprised a sundry shop, a spare parts shop, a jewellery store and an optometry shop while the five-storey building was for swiftlets to nest.
"Firemen, who received an emergency call at 11.30pm, took about two hours to put out the fire as they faced difficulties getting water. They had to draw water from a nearby river to put out the fire."
Azmi said losses in the second fire were estimated at more than RM1 million.
The causes of both fires are being investigated.
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