Blaze destroys stalls at Tawau's popular 'Pasar Gantung'

Fire destroyed more that 50 stalls at the 'pasar gantung', a popular shopping beeline for visitors and tourists, early today.

Tawau Fire and Rescue operations officer Faisal Ahmad said five nearby premises including a goldsmith shop, shoe store and budget hotel were also razed.

"We received a distress call at 4.50am and 25 personnel in four fire trucks arrived two minutes later," he said when met at the scene here, today.

He said the operation was hindered by low water pressure but the firefighters managed to prevent the blaze from spreading to another hotel and a mosque and other shopping lots nearby by 7.23am.

No casualty had been reported and the department was investigating the cause, he said.

Today's fire is the third in two weeks after the blaze at Kampung Hidayat, Batu 4 on July 1 and in Jalan Tawau Lama, Batu 2 on July 10.

-- BERNAMA