Fire guts Madang landmark

MADANG town’s landmark office and shopping complex, the Kagasten Building, was burnt to the ground last night, The National reports.

The fire, which started at the ground floor at about 6pm, gutted the entire building by 7pm.

Firemen and 20 student seamen from the PNG Maritime College could not save the building but managed to stop the fire from spreading to other shops, including the double-storey Papindo shopping complex.

A policeman at the scene said he suspected an electrical fault at a shop on the ground floor could have triggered the fire, which quickly spread to the other rooms.

It brought the entire two-storey building down within an hour.

The building housed two shops on the ground floor while the first floor had the Day and Night Surgery private clinic, office of the anti-HIV/AIDS group, People Living With Higher Aims Inc, among other occupants.

Police could not ascertain if there were people inside the building when it caught fire.