DIGITAL BILLBOARD ALONG FEDERAL HIGHWAY CATCHES FIRE

KUALA LUMPUR A digital billboard along the Federal Highway in Petaling Jaya near here caught fire today at around 1.25 pm today. News of the fire went viral on social media after videos of the fire and thick smoke billowing from the billboard were uploaded by various witnesses. Also, there were claims posted by several social media accounts stating that there were individuals, who they said were workers, conducting maintenance work on top of the billboard when the fire occurred. Videos of the fire do show individuals coming down from the billboard and firefighters at the scene trying to put out the fire. Deputy Petaling Jaya district police chief Supt M Hussin Sollehuddin Zolkifly confirmed the fire when contacted, adding that investigations were ongoing. Meanwhile, the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department operations centre said in a statement that the department received a distress call on the MERS 999 line at 1.15 pm about the digital billboard fire near Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Katholik, Peta ling Jaya. A total of 17 firefighters from the Petaling Jaya, Jalan Penchala, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam Fire and Rescue Stations, along with state operations assistant director Ahmad Mukhlis Mukhtar were present at the scene of the fire. 'When firefighters arrived, they found the fire did involve the digital billboard. Nine victims were involved in the fire, all of whom were rescued and handed to Health Ministry officers for further action,' the operations centre said/ Source: BERNAMA News Agency