Kuala Lumpur’s Mid Valley Megamall resumes operations
The Mid Valley Megamall, which closed on Wednesday following a fire at its premises, reopened on Thursday.
A 38-year-old employee at the mall, who spoke to The Straits Times on condition of anonymity, said the shopping centre has resumed operations as per normal.
He added that just a day before the blaze, a fire drill had been conducted at the mall.
“This was not the first time there was a fire at the mall, and ironically, there was a fire drill on Tuesday.”
In a Facebook post on Wednesday evening, the mall said it had received clearance from the authorities to resume operations.
“Following a thorough investigation conducted by Tenaga Nasional Berhad and the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department, we have received clearance from the relevant authorities concerning the safe reopening of the premises,” the post said.
The mall also extended its gratitude to its customers for their “unwavering cooperation and patience during this challenging period”.
“We would also like to thank all local authorities including the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Polis Diraja Malaysia for their swift action and cooperation during this time,” the mall said in the Facebook post.
A fire broke out at the main power substation at the mall on Wednesday.
It disrupted the mall’s power supply and caused temporary traffic jams in the vicinity of the shopping complex.
The fire was brought under control by 12.07pm and completely extinguished by 12.44pm, over two hours after it broke out, according to Kuala Lumpur’s fire and rescue department.
The fire was believed to have been caused by overheating of oil that was meant to cool an electrical transformer at the substation, a fire department official told reporters on Wednesday.
Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department operations assistant director Fatta Amin said the oil can withstand temperatures of 137 deg C, news agency Bernama reported.
“However, it is believed that the substation was excessively hot and suddenly started burning,” he told reporters at the mall, adding that only one of four substations belonging to the building was on fire.
All the substations were capable of supplying power within a 10km radius of Mid Valley, Mr Fatta said.
Power was fully restored to Mid Valley and its surrounding areas at around 12.30pm, said electricity provider Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
This is not the first time a fire has broken out at the mall.
In 2017, a fire broke out at a shop lot in the premises. In that incident, a fax machine had caught fire and the blaze was quickly brought under control.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
