A serious fire broke out in the Westports terminal of Malaysia’s main container port, Port Klang, burning 22 containers and causing damage to 38 boxes.
Port Klang Authority general manager K. Subramaniam said that the fire started at 4.15 pm (local time) on 4 April. Firefighters needed 11 hours to extinguish the flames, which were completely put out around 3 am on 5 April.
Subramaniam noted that the containers stored general goods and did not contain dangerous cargoes. The contents of the affected boxes included vehicle spare parts, cotton products, infant walkers, audio equipment and lubricants.
Westports has announced that there were no injuries at the fire incident.
While investigations for the cause of the fire are underway, Subramaniam said that “apart from cordoning off the area where the fire broke out, for investigations, the container cranes are not affected and the rest of the port is operating normally.”
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis stated that initially, the fire affected eight containers, which were stacked in two rows according to their weight. He added that Westports personnel tried to move the containers to prevent the fire from spreading.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
