KUALA LUMPUR: A tent inside the Kuala Lumpur Federal House near Dataran Merdeka, here, was damaged while a small grassy area at a slope above it caught fire in two arson cases earlier today.

The incidents at 6.20pm and 7.30pm were believed to have started when someone threw molotov cocktails into the government building’s compound.

City Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Abu Obaidat Mohamad said the first incident saw the tent, which was among four that had been set up there for this Monday’s Merdeka Day Celebration, damaged when the blaze made a big hole on it.

“The first incident happened about 6.20pm, and luckily our team is on standby at Dataran Merdeka. “They managed to put off the blaze before it spread to the other tents,” he said.

Abu Obaidat said the firemen also found plastic residue, believed to be of a plastic bottle turned molotov cocktail. On the second incident, he said the fire team at Dataran Merdeka once again was alerted to a fire there.

However, this time, it only saw a small grassy area above the tents ablaze. Several witnesses, who declined to be identified, said the molotov cocktails were thrown from Jalan Kinabalu, which passes at a higher ground beside the Federal House.

They said the incident happened when groups of people were walking along Jalan Kinabalu at the same time the Bersih 4 rally was taking place near Dataran Merdeka.

Meanwhile, several senior police officers met at Dataran Merdeka declined to confirm the incidents.

-New Straits Times