26 motorcycles were destroyed while another 10 were damaged due to a fire at the UniMap hostel early this morning.
Almost all the motorcycles were owned by students of Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) and were parked in the basement of a dormitory block in Pauh Putra.
The incident is believed to have happened at 4.41 am at Block B, Pauh Putra Housing Complex (Residential College).
A spokesman for the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) Perlis said that a total of six members led by Senior Fire Chief II, Megat Zairilnizam Ahmad from the Arau Fire and Rescue Station were deployed to the scene of the incident.
“When we arrived at the scene, we found that the fire had spread and destroyed and damaged 36 motorcycles parked there.
“Criminal investigation officers have already visited the scene for a preliminary investigation,” he said.
A victim of the incident said he was woken by a friend while he was sleeping who said that their dormitory block was on fire. “I live on the fifth floor. When my friend said there was a fire, I thought this dormitory block was on fire.
“So I took whatever items I could salvage including a laptop downstairs but when I stepped down, I saw my motorcycle, a year-old Yamaha Y16, engulfed in flames.
“I was unable to do anything to save my motorcycle because the situation there was hot and the fire was raging and I estimated the loss to be RM14,500,” he said.
His friend, Muhammad Muaz Mohd Sofi, 25, also did not have time to do anything to save the Honda RS150 motorcycle that he had been using for more than five years when the fire spread quickly.
