Fire at Genting Highlands theme park sparks evacuations
A fire at a building in the Central Park area of Genting Highlands theme park on Jun 14, 2024. (Image: Facebook/Kelvin Poi)
14 Jun 2024 07:39PM (Updated: 14 Jun 2024 07:41PM)
A fire broke out at the Genting Highlands theme park in Malaysia on Friday (Jun 14), prompting evacuations as the blaze sent plumes of black smoke into the air.
Footage of the incident shared widely on social media showed flames raging from the SkyAvenue shopping mall in the Central Park area.
Resorts World Genting said in a statement on its website that the fire broke out at about 4.30pm.
Apart from SkyAvenue, all other areas at the resort are not affected, it added.
"Evacuation was carried immediately to ensure members of the public are out of harm's way.
"Our fire units responded promptly to extinguish the fire. We continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as the situation progresses."
A fire at a building in the Central Park area of Genting Highlands theme park on Jun 14, 2024. (Image: Facebook/KL Now)
Local news outlet Kosmo reported that more than 5,000 people had to evacuate, with some in a state of panic.
A Pahang fire and rescue official said they were alerted at 4.55pm with personnel arriving at the location about five minutes later.
The fire started on the second floor before spreading to the fourth, he said.
Genting Highlands, in the Malaysian state of Pahang, is a popular entertainment and tourist destination. It has both indoor and outdoor theme parks, casinos, as well as shopping malls. It also hosts a variety of concerts.
This is a developing story, please refresh for updates.