File room at Penang Umno building catches fire

Government-linked company JKP Sdn Bhd was using the space to store documents.

GEORGE TOWN: A file storage unit at Menara Umno along Macalister Road here caught fire late afternoon today, a Fire and Rescue Services Department spokesperson said.

In the 5.50pm incident, flames broke out at the 25 sqm space on the 19th floor of the building which houses the Penang Umno headquarters.

Department officials said the area that caught fire was utilised by government-linked developer JKP Sdn Bhd to store its documents.

A team of seven firemen from the Beach Street fire brigade put out the fire at 6.45pm.

No one was reported hurt in the incident and investigators estimate 4% of the unit was destroyed in the blaze.

They have yet to ascertain the cause of the fire.

This is not the first time the 21-storey building, which also has commercial organisations occupying some of the units there on lease, has encountered an emergency situation.

In June 2013, a heavy concrete beam fell from the rooftop of the same Menara Umno onto Macalister Road below, killing two people, during a freak windstorm.

And in May 2014, a 21-year old student fell to her death from the 18th floor of the building where a law college was operating. -FMT