AN elderly woman with mobility problems died in a fire that razed a 33-door longhouse in Song, Sarawak, yesterday afternoon.

The longhouse, Rumah Sebom, was located 81km away from the Song district administrative centre, along one of the tributaries of Sungai Rajang at Nanga Masak in Ulu Katibas.

The 90-year-old victim was identified as Tungkut Angong.

At the time of the incident, only eight people, including the victim, were in the longhouse. Except for one teenager, all the rest were adults.

The fire was reported around 1pm yesterday by the longhouse’s 63 year-old chief, Sebom Bantan, to the district office, but due to its remote location, first responders arrived late last night.

The Fire Department in its report said it was only informed of the fire at 4.45pm yesterday and the six firefighters dispatched at 4.45pm took nearly four hours to reach the longhouse.

They arrived at 8.32pm, and by then all they could do was to extinguish embers and secure the bilek (unit) where the woman perished for police to investigate.

A team of four from the Civil Defence Department was dispatched at 4.15pm yesterday but were forced to lay up at a longhouse due heavy rain.

They set off at 5.50am today to another longhouse to ask for directions to Rumah Sebom, at which they arrived at slightly past 10am. – October 5, 2023.