Landslide forces 86 to leave longhouse

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BINTULU: A landslide forced 86 residents to evacuate from 32-door Rumah Empaling Tuan at Km60, Sungai Sengian Labang, Jalan Bintulu-Miri on Monday.

The soil movement caused structural damage to the longhouse’s kitchen area.

Bintulu Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) personnel were dispatched to the longhouse located about 75km from here to do a structural inspection.

Bomba Bintulu Station chief Dihata Gobel said they received a report on the incident at 5.28pm and arrived at the longhouse around 6.48pm.

He said from the inspection, Bomba found that pillars supporting the kitchen area had collapsed, leaving the longhouse unsafe for occupation.

The 19 affected families were forced to spend the night in an open area in front of the longhouse.

Yesterday, the longhouse folk were moved to the hall of SK Sengian Labang.

Representatives from the Public Works Department, Welfare Department and Sesco were at the scene to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the incident.