KOTA KINABALU: Petrol kiosks were jammed with motorists as panic-buying of fuel was seen throughout Sabah over rumours of petrol kiosks closing down for three days.

The panic was triggered by rumours that petrol kiosk will shut down from Wednesday because protesting kiosk dealers nationwide were demanding higher commissions following the recent fuel hike.

Officials from Shell Malaysia and the Sabah Petroleum Dealers Association stressed that there was no truth to the rumour, and urged people not to resort to panic buying.

"We were told that petrol kiosks were going to close for three days. I rushed from my office to fill my tank,” said motorist Abdul Rashmin Salleh, who said there were also rumours of further price hikes.

Despite being assured that there was no shutdown or fuel hikes, one motorist said that he was not taking the risk.

Most petrol kiosk and roads approaching them were jammed as people waited in long queues to get their tanks filled up; traffic in the city centre came to a standstill during the office rush hour.

In some areas like interior Keningau, queues were as long as 2km, while kiosks ran out of supply.

"Shell retail stations nationwide continue with normal operating hours,” a Sabah Shell spokesman said in a statement.