Last week, a fire broke out at Mid Valley Megamall where it also caused a power outage in nearby buildings as well as traffic congestion. While that incident has been dealt with, another fire apparently broke out earlier today (Monday, 22nd May).
5 years after the last incident, the old Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) or Employees Provident Fund (EPF) building at Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya caught on fire, again. Here’s what we know so far:
KEBAKARAN | Bangunan enam tingkat KWSP di Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya mengalami kebakaran, pagi tadi. Ini merupakan kejadian kali kedua selepas insiden sama berlaku pada Februari 2018.#BuletinTV3 #Kebakaran #BangunanKWSP #JalanGasing #PetalingJaya pic.twitter.com/J1cBUrwR0P
— Buletin TV3 (@BuletinTV3) May 22, 2023
Videos and photos of the 6-floor KSWP building catching fire have been circulating all over social media since this morning after road users saw thick dark smoke coming out of the premise. The incident was reported to have taken place at around 10:45am today. Fire fighters rushed to the scene to put out the flames.
According to Harian Metro, Assistant Director of Operations of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) Selangor, Hafisham Mohd Noor said that the cause of the fire is still being investigated and that a full statement will be released once investigations have concluded.
Thankfully, there were no injuries or casualties reported as the building has been vacant since the first fire incident that occurred back in 2018. For your information, the 2018 fire was reportedly caused by a waterproofing system repair that went wrong. Since then, the old KWSP building has been permanently closed down due to the flames partially destroying it.
https://twitter.com/didisaurussssss/status/1660477397412741120?s=20
Recently, it was said that the old building was meant to be turned into a nursing home by 2024 but it looks like plans for that will have to be postponed until they can identify the cause of the fire and ensure everyone’s safety before the building becomes operational again.
At the time of writing, KWSP has yet to release a statement regarding the recent incident.
Sources: Twitter, ChinaPress, HMetro, TheRakyatPost, TheEdgeMarket
