Woman dies in KL fire
Woman dies in KL fire
KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A 73-year-old woman was killed and more
than 5,000 people lost their homes in a fire that gutted three
villages in a sea-front area in Sabah state, on Borneo island,
news reports said Friday.
Authorities estimated that 70 percent of the victims were not
Malaysian citizens, The Star newspaper reported. Many illegal
immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia live in Sabah.
The woman, Tsan Swee Lee, died while trying to escape from her
home in Kampung Kombo, a grouping of two squatter settlements,
The Star reported. A 10-year-old boy was missing. Their
nationalities were unclear.
Firefighters were hampered by low water pressure and strong
winds and needed six hours to put out the fire, which broke out
Thursday morning, the national news agency Bernama reported. An
investigation was opened into the cause.