Disaster In Pakan

The fire destroyed the last room of the longhouse.

At the height of the inferno.


The relatives helping to move the belongings to a safe place.

The onlookers gathered near the razed longhouse.

A man holding what is remained of a shortgun.

The last few remaining houses which is a few metres from the razed longhouse.

A fire burnt down Tr Sedau anak Empali longhouse at Jagoi, Pakan. The fire which started at around 11.30 am completely razed down the longhouse. At the time of the disaster most of the longhouse's folks are away working. Those who were in the longhouse at that time were children and the olds. It is believed that the fire started from the room in one of the 26 doors longhouse. As the longhouse doesn't have the fire fighting equipments, the occupants just watched helplessly the fire engulfed and destroyed their longhouse and belongings in the matter of 40 minutes. The house was bulit more than 30 years ago of wooden structure and a zinc roof. The total loss have not been estimated as the occupants still in a state of shock. What can be seen was a van, a car and 2 motorcycles could not be moved to safety. According to one of the resident, he has nothing left. He said " What is left of my belongings is what I wear on my back. " The grieve faces and the tears in their eyes say everything. No words can described their feelings. To have the Ibans stay in a longhouse is agood thing as it shows the close knit between the people. But when disaster struck as in this case because of the carelessness of one of the occupants evervybody suffer....