RESIDENTS of a longhouse in Sungai Asan Bayu near Sibu were shocked when they were informed that an object found on the roof of a unit at the longhouse yesterday, could possibly be debris from a Chinese Long March 5B rocket.

Bintangor fire and rescue station (BBP) chief Nicholas Belulin said the discovery of the object measuring 5.8cm wide and 7.62cm long was made by the owner and family of the unit in Rumah Renyam, Sungai Asan Bayu yesterday evening.

According to him, the call about the discovery was received from officers at the Sibu BBP at about 8.50pm after receiving a call from the Lanang police station earlier.

He said a team from Bintangor BBP travelled 37km to the location and arrived there at 10.38pm.

“Arriving at the location, it was found that a suspicious-looking object had fallen on the roof of the longhouse, penetrated it, and got stuck in the wooden beams of the house. There was a tear in the roof.

“The object was then taken by police for further investigation,” he said in a statement today.

He said according to the longhouse unit owner, the object may have been there a few weeks because he and his family rarely returned to the longhouse due to work and only noticed it when they saw a hole in the roof.

Meanwhile, the owner in a police report at the Sungai Merah police station yesterday stated that his neighbour said he had heard a loud bang from the roof of his room on the night of July 30.

Sibu district police chief Zulkipli Suhaili said the report of the discovery of the object was received late yesterday and that it will be sent to the Chemistry Department and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board branch in Kuching for confirmation.

On July 31, the Malaysian Space Agency (Mysa) had confirmed that the sighting of bright objects across the night sky around Sarawak on July 30 were debris from the Chinese Long March 5B rocket.

Most of the debris was reported to have fallen in the Sulu Sea. – Bernama, August 14, 2022.