Sandakan police chief George Abd Rakman was quoted by local English daily The Star as saying that the "very large-scale and heartbreaking incident" affected 9,007 residents.
Sandakan police chief George Abd Rakman was quoted by local English daily The Star as saying that the"very large-scale and heartbreaking incident" affected 9,007 residents. This handout photo taken and released by Malaysia ’s Sandakan Fire and Rescue Department on Apr 19, 2026, shows a general view of the Kampung Bahagia water village after a fire, in Sandakan, on Malaysia ’s Borneo island.
Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results.KUALA LUMPUR: A huge fire destroyed about 1,000 makeshift homes, many of them built on stilts over water, and displaced thousands of people in a coastal village in Malaysia's Sabah state on Sunday , authorities said. The blaze broke out early on Sunday morning in a"water village" in Sandakan district in Sabah's northeast, where some of Malaysia's poorest residents, including indigenous and stateless communities, live in closely packed, wooden stilt houses. Sandakan police chief George Abd Rakman was quoted by local English daily The Star as saying that the"very large-scale and heartbreaking incident" affected 9,007 residents. The Sabah Fire and Rescue Department said it was notified of the incident at around 1.32am and deployed 37 personnel from two stations to battle the fire.This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners."... the fire involved an estimated 1,000 temporary floating homes with a total area of 10 acres and 100 per cent burnt," the department said in a statement.The fire broke out in one of Sabah's water villages, which feature wooden houses built on stilts, on Apr 19, 2026. "Low sea tide also made it difficult for firefighters to get access to an open water source," the department's statement said, while strong wind also fuelled the flames.Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the federal government was coordinating with Sabah authorities to provide assistance and temporary accommodation for those affected as soon as possible. "The priority now is the safety of victims and immediate assistance on the ground," Anwar said in a Facebook post.Sign up for our newsletters We know it's a hassle to switch browsers but we want your experience with CNA to be fast, secure and the best it can possibly be.
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