Fire at Malaysia’s Genting Highlands theme park sparks evacuations: ‘we obviously panicked’

A fire broke out at the Genting Highlands theme park in Malaysia on Friday, prompting evacuations as the blaze sent plumes of black smoke into the air.

Footage of the incident shared widely on social media showed flames raging from the SkyAvenue shopping centre in the Central Park area of Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park.

Visitors described their panic as the fire spread across the building, with some worried that the building might collapse.

Tourist Hafiz Abdul Halim, 42, who was with his wife, said they became fearful when they realised that there was a fire in the building.

“We obviously panicked when we heard people screaming here and there. The police on duty did ask people to evacuate the premises and exit to safer locations,” he told local news agency Bernama.

Restaurant assistant Adrian Wong, 32, said that staff as well as visitors were asked to vacate the premises.

“Everyone made it out. They vacated and left everything to save themselves,” he said, adding that all floors were evacuated for safety purposes.

Resorts World Genting said in a statement on its website that the fire broke out at about 4.30pm and that evacuation was carried out immediately.

Apart from SkyAvenue, other areas of the resort were not affected, it added.

One witness said that she was with others having a massage at SkyAvenue when the mall was evacuated.

The evacuation was orderly, and the fire was contained as of 6.55pm, said Facebook user See Li Min.

A photograph of the aftermath taken from her hotel room nearby showed the charred exterior of the building, with what appeared to be damping down operations ongoing.

Local news outlet Kosmo reported earlier that more than 5,000 people evacuated, with some in a state of panic.

The Pahang fire and rescue