JASIN, Feb 13 — Seventy-year-old Ab Kahar Ahmad had woken up to get a drink of water at about 1.30 am when he heard cries for help and the sound of people running from a neighbour’s house.
He looked out the window and saw the neighbour’s house, about four metres away, engulfed in flames.
“I heard my neighbour screaming, ‘Run! Run!’ and calling for help, but because all the doors had iron grilles which were locked, his wife and children couldn’t escape.
“I helped to spray water on his house and also mine, fearing that the fire would spread, but the flames were too intense. My son called the fire department for help,” he told reporters today.
Recalling the incident, Ab Kahar said his neighbour, who broke his leg in a road crash last month, was helped out of the burning house through a window.
“I was unable to do anything else because the fire spread too quickly, and all the doors and windows were locked… his wife and four children, aged between two and 13, perished in the incident,” he said.
Ab Kahar said he had known the family since they moved into the rented house about three years ago.
The tragic fire in Kampung Berangan Enam claimed the lives of a family of five, including four children.
Authorities have yet to confirm the identities of the victims. — Bernama
