Massive blaze in Malaysia’s Sabah destroys 1,000 Stilt Homes

A huge fire, in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Sunday, destroyed about 1,000 makeshift homes, many of them built on stilts over water, and displaced thousands of people in a coastal village.

The blaze broke out early on Sunday morning in a ‘water village’ in Sandakan district in Sabah’s northeast, where some of Malaysia’s poorest residents, including indigenous and stateless communities, live in closely packed wooden stilt houses.

Sandakan police chief George Abd Rakman was quoted by local English daily newspaper, The Star, as saying that the very large-scale and heartbreaking incident affected 9,007 residents there.

The Sabah Fire and Rescue Department mentioned that it was notified of the incident at around 1:32 am (local time) on Sunday and immediately deployed 37 personnel from two stations to battle the fire.

“The fire involved an estimated 1,000 temporary floating homes with a total area of 10 acres and 100 percent burnt,” the concerned department stated. “Narrow access routes prevented fire engines from reaching the site”, it added.

Low sea-tide also made it difficult for firefighters to get access to an open water source, while strong wind also fuelled the flames, it added followingly.

No injuries or fatalities were reported in accordance with the statement “there is no more danger” by the above-mentioned department.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told that the federal government was coordinating with Sabah authorities to provide assistance and temporary accommodation for those affected as soon as possible.

“The priority now is the safety of victims and immediate assistance on the ground,” Anwar said in a Facebook post.