GEORGE TOWN: After almost eight hours, firefighters are still struggling to completely put out a fire which gutted three pre-war shophouses located at the busy Jalan Penang here. The fire is believed to have started at a souvenir shop about 9.30am before it spread to the other two shophouses. A foreign woman, believed to be Indonesian, in her 30s, was inside the souvenir shop for almost 30 minutes and had screamed for help when she saw the fire. Close to 4pm, thick black smoke was spotted coming again from the souvenir shop. Motorists travelling to Jalan Penang were diverted to Lebuh Campbell and Lebuh Dickens by traffic police.

Source: New Strait Times September 12, 2017 13:30 UTC