A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people.
The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr.
National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the valves would eventually snuff out the fire.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The flames, 20 stories high at one point, were small enough for firefighters to approach at about 2:45pm, the Selangor state fire department told the Star newspaper.
At least 49 houses were damaged and 112 people were injured, with 63 sent to the hospital for burns, breathing difficulties and other injuries, Selangor Deputy Police Chief Mohamad Zaini Abu Hassan was quoted by national Bernama news agency as saying.
Selangor Chief Minister Amirudin Shari said the fire department evacuated nearby homes as a safety measure and the residents would be placed in mosques nearby until the situation is under control.
Pictures and videos of the fireball went viral on social media, with some residents saying they felt a strong tremor with the doors and windows of their homes shaking.
Lee Weng Ken, who suffered burns to his left leg, said he was shocked when the ceiling of his house collapsed and crushed his vehicle parked in the compound of the house.
“I rushed out of my house, but fell and suffered burns due to the heat from the blaze near my house,” he told Bernama.
Another victim who only wanted to be known as Andy told Bernama he ran out of his home with his children when they felt tremors and saw the raging fire about 100m away.
“I could only take the car out. My 18-year-old daughter injured her foot when she fell while climbing the fence due to the heat, he said.
Petronas said three gas stations were closed as a precaution, although they were not affected, and investigations are still under way.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS