4 houses destroyed in pre-dawn blaze

KOTA KINABALU - Four terrace houses were gutted in a pre-dawn fire at a housing estate in Putatan, near here, early yesterday.

There were no casualties, but occupants of three of the houses lost almost all of their belongings in the blaze at Taman Petagas.

Witnesses said the fire started from one of the houses at 2.20am, which later spread to the adjacent units.

Firemen took about an hour to put out the blaze, preventing it from spreading to other houses.

Victim Hafis Sohairah, 28, said he was asleep when he caught a whiff of smoke from outside the house he shared with his parents and three siblings.

"When I sensed burning, part of the house and my car parked outside were already on fire.

"I quickly woke everyone up and rushed out," said Hafis, who could only save some clothing and his mobile phone.

Penampang fire officer Jamaluddin Hussin said a distress call was received at 2.26am. Five engines with 29 firemen were despatched to the scene.