Firemen rescue 19 trapped in Wangsa Maju shophouse blaze

Fire and Rescue Department Senior Operations commander Mohd Shahrir Azizi Wan Said, in a statement today, said a distress call was received at 11.17 pm with a total of 42 firemen deployed from the Setapak, Wangsa Maju, Keramat, Hang Tuah and Seputeh Fire stations.

Shahrir said by the time firemen reached the scene at 11.27 pm, 50 percent of the workshop had been destroyed, and the flames further spread to about 10 per cent of the first floor of the building.

"We continued the efforts to stop the fire from spreading to other parts of the building so as not to affect residents living on the floors above.

"The fire was brought under control by 11.41 pm. Immediately after this, we rescued 19 people trapped in the units above the workshop using the FRT's rescue ladder and continued with the 'total overhaul' fire extinguishing efforts," Shahrir said.

He said the fire was fully extinguished at 2.06 am and investigations are ongoing to determine the cause.