KOTA KINABALU, Feb 6 — Six foreign tourists escaped unharmed after they made a daring escape by climbing onto balconies on a third floor building following a fire at a backpackers motel in Kampung Air, here on Tuesday morning.

Kota Kinabalu fire station chief Ordine Gilu said the man and five women in their mid 20s were from Switzerland, Slovakia, Russia, America, Japan and France.

"We received a distress call at 8.49am of a fire and teams from Kota Kinabalu and Lintas were deployed to the location.

"When fire and rescue personnel arrived, guests were seen standing on balconies on the third floor.

"We assisted them down safely by using Lacon Ladder. All the guests from the motel were counted for,” he said.

Ordine said they managed to control the fire by 9.10am before the operation ended at 10.10am.

Ordine added that early investigation revealed the fire started from one of the rooms of the motel on the third floor.

The actual cause of the fire and total loss are under investigation, he said. — Borneo Post