The burnt classroom on the third floor of SJK(C) Chung Hwa Limbang after the fire.
LIMBANG: Police here are confident of an arrest soon of those suspected of causing the fire in a classroom on the third floor of SJK(C) Chung Hwa Limbang late Thursday night.
Limbang District police chief Superintendent Mohd Bukhori Saffai said police know the identities of the suspected arsonists, based on initial investigations and footage from the closed circuit cameras (CCTV) of the school.
“We are working closely with the security guards on duty to identify three of the four individuals recorded in the CCTV, who went up to the school building after 8pm before the fire outbreak.
“Earlier the four individuals played basketball at the school from 5pm to 8pm and the security guards recognised them as they used to play at the school,” he said yesterday.
Mohd Bukhori added that initial investigation showed that besides the burnt classroom there were also attempts to burn three other classrooms, using paper and lantern paper decorations.
Samples of the evidence have been sent to the Chemistry Department for further action. Police are investigating the case under Section 436 of the Penal Code for arson.
In the incident at 10.45pm on Thursday, firemen took nine minutes to completely douse the fire upon arriving at the scene, which was two kilometres away from the fire station.
Limbang Zone Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) chief Edmund Mahai Amboh said upon arrival they found that fire had already destroyed 50 per cent of the classroom. The firemen managed to completely put out the fire at 11.04pm.
No injuries were reported.