By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KUALA LUMPUR (Worthy News) – At least 145 people were injured, and many rushed to hospitals after a massive fire broke out at a natural gas pipeline near Malaysia’s largest city officials confirmed.
Witnesses saw a massive fireball showering flaming debris from the sky and shattering windows outside Kuala Lumpur, the capital.
National oil company Petronas announced that the fire had started at one of its natural gas pipelines but did not explain why it had burst into flames.
The inferno caused 20-story flames and a vast crater in an empty area near a residential neighborhood, according to witnesses and footage seen by Worthy News.
Malaysia’s Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad told the media that among the 145 injured people were at least three children.
He said “67 people” were still being treated at public hospitals, primarily for second and third-degree burns, while “37 others sought treatment from clinics and private hospitals.”
The fire department said the fire damaged 190 houses and 148 cars. Investigations were underway into the cause of the fire. Authorities said homes within 290 meters (yards) of the site will remain off-limits for now.
MUCH DAMAGE
“There is a lot of damage across housing areas,” warned Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who visited affected residents and pledged financial aid for victims. He told them the government and Petronas would be responsible for repairing affected homes, which could take months.
Survivors in evacuation centers described scenes of chaos that started with an explosion. “The fire is really raging high. And then once you can see debris – you’re talking about debris which is still on fire – started to fall all over the place, that’s (when) we know something bad has happened,” recalled Raja Hilmy Bin Raja Idris, 59, whose house was 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the fire.
Evian Wee, 50, told reporters that she initially thought a tornado or earthquake had struck.
“I saw a red glow moving around … I kept hearing things falling – glass, stones, all crashing in. All the windows were shattered,” she explained. “It started off with the explosion; then the windows started shaking violently. That’s when we realized it was an explosion that led to the fire.”
Petronas said it had “isolated” the pipeline and was working closely with all relevant parties to “ensure the safety” of the surrounding community and environment and the security of gas supply to the country.
Yet those efforts came too late for many impacted by the fireball-shaking parts of the Southeast Asian nation.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Senate Republicans say they have enough support within their 53-member conference to pass the SAVE America Act, but overcoming a Democratic blockade may require reviving the rarely used “talking filibuster.”
The U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense have transported a small nuclear reactor by military cargo aircraft for the first time, marking a significant milestone in President Donald Trump’s push to expand advanced nuclear energy across the country.
President Donald Trump on Monday directed federal authorities to step in and coordinate cleanup efforts following what he called a “massive ecological disaster” in the Potomac River after a major sewer line collapse in Maryland.
A large Second Temple–era stone workshop that supplied Jerusalem’s Jewish population some 2,000 years ago has been uncovered on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday.
The United States has moved to replenish its stockpile of GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker-buster bombs, it was revealed this week, as tensions with Tehran remain elevated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday that Israel will not accept any arrangement allowing Hamas to retain weapons, warning that the terror group must fully disarm or face a renewed Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
The United States is preparing to deploy roughly 200 American troops to Nigeria in the coming weeks to assist in counterterrorism efforts, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.