JOHOR BARU: Five female students of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bandar Baru Uda here were rushed to Hospital Sultanah Aminah today after they suffered breathing difficulties during a fire which gutted the school’s cooperative room.
Johor Baru Fire and Rescue Department operations officer Lasidin Nariano said the students became short of breath after being exposed to the hot sun in the school’s assembly area where they had gathered to escape the fire.
“Their breathing difficulty was not caused by smoke (from the fire). There was no one in the cooperative room during the incident,” he said in a statement here.
Lasidin said on receiving an emergency call at 9.32am, the department sent 18 firemen in three fire engines from the Johor Baru station and an Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) vehicle to the scene. They were later joined by nine firemen in two fire engines from Tebrau.
“The fire damaged 60% of the school’s cooperative room measuring 20x20x15m feet,” he said.
He said the cause of the fire and losses suffered are being investigated. — Bernama
