Seafood factory razed to the ground

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Firefighters work together to put out the fire to prevent it from spreading to a nearby petrol station.

Fire and APM personnel attend to the injured worker at the scene.

MIRI: A foreign worker suffered burns on his face and hands in his attempt to save himself from a fire that destroyed a seafood manufacturing factory and a worker’s quarters near Sungai Baong, Krokop here at 6.15am yesterday.

The victim, in his 20s, only known as Kadir from Indonesia, managed to escape to a fishing boat berthed at the rear of the factory.

Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) and Civil Defence Force (APM) personnel rushed to the scene shortly after being notified and gave Kadir an early medical treatment. The factory and a connecting worker’s hostel were razed to the ground while 25 per cent of the factory shop was affected by the fire.

It is understood that the building housed a frozen food processing factory, worker’s quarters, office and a shop selling an assortment of seafood.

According to a factory worker only known as Kadsari, 45, he was washing rice to cook when he felt the heat and then saw flames in the room located on the top floor of the worker’s quarters.

“I quickly grabbed some of my clothes before running out of the building to safety,” said Kadsari, who has been working with the company as a fisherman for six years.

He added that during the incident, five fishermen were in the quarters while the rest were out at sea to catch fish.

“They woke up at 3am like they did everyday to transfer the fishermen’s catch to the factory so they were aware of the fire,” he added.

Miri Bomba chief Law Poh Kiong said 14 personnel from Miri and Lopeng stations along with two Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) were dispatched to the scene after receiving a call at 6.32am.

“They struggled to prevent the fire from spreading to the entire building and also to a nearby petrol station,” said Law.

They managed to put the situation under control at 8.09am. Lopeng Fire and Rescue station chief Terry Robson added that forensic experts were still investigating the cause of the fire.