CityONE blast: Authorities urged to expedite investigations, make findings public

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Wong (right) together with Tan at the press conference today.

KUCHING: NeNe Chicken Malaysia is making every effort to obtain more information on the gas explosion which occurred at CityOne Megamall on Tuesday.

NeNe Chicken Malaysia managing director Raymond Wong said the latest information from the authorities is that the investigation is still ongoing.

“We must begin by offering our condolences to the victims who were injured and the families of the three men who have tragically lost their lives,” said Wong to a press conference at a hotel here today

He added that in light of the seriousness of the horrific incident in which three lives have been lost and dozens injured, NeNe Chicken Malaysia is also joining the public in urging the authorities to expedite their investigations and to make its findings public as soon as possible.

“NeNe Chicken Malaysia’s role in East Malaysia, as far as the CityONE Outlet is concerned, is confined to providing our CityONE MegaMall Outlet Licensee the concept of the restaurant and other related plans and manuals,” he said.

He said the appointment of the contractors and other persons involved with the fitting-out of the restaurant, in particular the kitchen was wholly arranged by the CityONE Licensee, and not within their jurisdiction or scope.

“Of course, the subject of safety is always our top priority. However, because we were not involved in the fitting-out or renovation of the kitchen, we have not been included by the authorities in the investigations,” he added.

He said that NeNe Chicken Malaysia, as the Master Licensor has taken their own initiative to meet with the police and the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Forensic Team to obtain more information about the incident.

“We have conveyed to the investigators what we were told by our own personnel, two of whom were seriously injured in the incident,” said Wong.

He said the CityONE licensee has also been contacted to provide them with all the necessary documentation as they are also in the process of conducting their own internal investigations.

NeNe Chicken Malaysia, he enthused, is fully committed to help all the victims and their families through these extremely traumatic time.

Also present at the press conference was NeNe Chicken Malaysia general manager Ken Tan.