PETALING JAYA: With more than 50 houses and shoplots destroyed in the recent fire at Kampung Baru Cina Karak in Bentong, the MCA has extended financial assistance to help the victims.

       Former Bentong MP Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who was at the scene to assess the situation on Saturday (Oct 2), said he was there to give the villagers moral and financial support as they had lost everything they had.

       "The villagers told me they were in a panic as the fire spread quickly. They couldn't save their belongings. They only had time to save their own lives. So they lost all their belongings," he said.

       Liow also shared that one of the villagers rushed into a house to save an elderly, wheelchair-bound woman. I'm thankful that there were no casualties," he said.

       He noted that MCA has set up a fire victims' rebuilding committee to help the villagers, adding that it was also seeking help from the district authorities as well as the Pahang government and Federal Government.

       "I have known them (the villagers) for a long time... they are my former constituents and my heart is always with them. I feel sad for them because while it is already very bad facing the Covid-19 pandemic, now this disaster has struck.

       "We are seeking the public's help to donate to the victims," he said.

       Liow said party president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong and the Crisis Relief Squad of MCA (CRSM) have also contributed financial assistance to the victims.

       Bentong Bersama campaign founder Wong Siew Mun said that on the night of the fire, the village chief and MCA Karak branch chairman were there to help evacuate the victims.

       "Currently, the victims have moved either to their relatives' or friends' houses," she said.

       Wong added that MCA is also working with the authorities to help the victims reapply for their lost identification documents and land grants, as well as the plans for new homes.

       "We are helping them through the relevant government authorities. We need the Public Works Department to clear the area and draft blueprints to rebuild the area so that the new homes will be safer.

       "The fire spread so fast because the houses were all made of wood and too close to one another," she said.

       Wong, who is also deputy chairman of the MCA publicity bureau, estimated that each household incurred at least RM100,000 in damages.

       It was reported that at least 48 houses and eight shops were destroyed in the fire which broke out at 9.10pm on Friday (Oct 1).

       Pahang Fire and Rescue Department director Wan Mohammad Zaidi Wan Isa said the closeness of the houses to one another could have caused the fire to spread so rapidly.

       The department is still looking into the cause of the fire and the total damage caused.