Object suspected to be rocket debris found at longhouse near Sibu

 

Residents of a longhouse in Sungai Asan Bayu near Sibu were shocked when they were informed that an object found on the roof of a unit at the longhouse yesterday could possibly be debris from a Chinese Long March 5B rocket.

Bintangor Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) chief Nicholas Belulin said the discovery of the object measuring 5.8cm wide and 7.62cm long was made by the owner and family of the unit in Rumah Renyam, Sungai Asan Bayu when they returned home on Saturday evening.

According to him, the call about the discovery was received from officers at Sibu BBP at about 8.50pm after receiving a call from the Lanang Police Station earlier.

He said a team from Bintangor BBP was deployed to the location and arrived there at 10.38pm, involving a distance of 37km.

"Arriving at the location, it was found that there was a suspicious object that fell on the roof of the longhouse and penetrated it and got stuck in the wooden beams of the house. There was a tear in the roof.

"The object was then taken by police teams from the Sibu police headquarters and Lanang Police Station for further investigation," he said in a statement today.

He said that, according to the owner, the object may have been there a few weeks because he and his family rarely returned to the longhouse due to work and only noticed it when they saw a hole in the roof.

Meanwhile, the owner, in a police report at the Sungai Merah Police Station on Saturday evening, stated that his neighbour had said that he heard a loud bang from the roof of his room on the night of July 30.

Sibu District Police Chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili, when contacted by Bernama, said the report of the discovery of the object was received late yesterday and that it will be sent to the Chemistry Department and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board branch in Kuching for confirmation.

On July 31, the Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA) confirmed that the sighting of bright objects seen streaking across the night sky around Sarawak on July 30 were those from the Chinese Long March 5B rocket debris.

Most of the debris were reported to have fallen in the Sulu Sea.

- Bernama