Charred body found after 30 squatter houses razed in Bintulu

 

A charred body was discovered after a fire destroyed about 30 squatter houses in Sangan town, Tatau, in Bintulu Division late last night. Pic courtesy of Fire and Rescue Dept

KUCHING: A charred body was found after fire destroyed about 30 squatter houses in Sangan town, Tatau, in Bintulu Division late last night.

A Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department operations centre spokesman said the victim's identity had yet to be ascertained.

He said an emergency call was received at 11.18pm, prompting the deployment of seven personnel from the Tatau Fire and Rescue Station to the scene.

"Upon arrival, the operations commander reported that the blaze involved about 30 squatter houses near Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sangan Iban, all of which were completely destroyed.

"The affected area was located across a river and had no road access," he said in a statement today.

As a result, the operations team used boats belonging to villagers to ferry firefighting equipment across the river to reach the site.

"The burnt body was found at 2.36am, and efforts are still ongoing to identify the victim.

"Operations personnel were also in the process of gathering information on the actual number of residents living in the squatter settlement," he added. - NST