GEORGE TOWN: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has clarified that there was no new power cable fire on the Penang Bridge this morning.
TNB grid chief officer Datuk Husaini Husin said the electric current to the cables that burnt yesterday had already been switched off.
"Based on our investigation, there is no recurrence of fire to three 132kV cables which burnt yesterday. Electric current to the cables was cut off automatically during yesterday's fire.
"Our technical team reported that the smoke found this morning at yesterday's fire scene, which had been put out by firefighters, were the residue from yesterday's fire," he said this evening.
Husaini said they were monitoring the situation to ensure safety to all bridge users.
At 9.17am, the Prai Fire and Rescue Department reported that it was alerted to another fire involving the power cable at Km3.2 on the bridge.
Prai Fire and Rescue Department operations officer Khairi Abu Bakar said when they arrived at the scene, they found the power cable below the bridge was on fire.
The operation and monitoring ended about 5.45pm.
Just before the evening peak hour yesterday, a power cable caught fire on the Penang Bridge, causing massive traffic jams on both sides of the bridge that stretched several kilometres.
Black smoke could be seen billowing at the stretch where the cables were located under the bridge at Km3.3.
Several video clips and photos of the incident have since found their way into social media.