Compiled by ONG HAN SEAN, BEH YUEN HUI and R. ARAVINTHAN
IN his haste to get his family out of their burning house, an elderly man inadvertently left behind his little grandson, who then died in the blaze.
“We all panicked because it was dark after the electricity supply was cut off an hour before the blaze and I didn’t realise he was still in the house,” said Mohd Tahir Nabil, 70, the grandfather of the five-year-old boy who was found charred from the fire at Kampung Kinabutan Batu 5 in Tawau early yesterday.
Mohd Tahir said during the incident at 12.10am, all 13 family members, including his wife, children and six grandchildren, were at home with some already fast asleep.
“I was shocked when I heard a neighbour shouting from outside, saying the house was on fire, before seeing flames engulfing the front of the house,” said Mohd Tahir, adding that he woke up the family and brought them to safety outside.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t realise one grandson was not with us.
“It turned out he was still in the room upstairs,” he said, reported BH Online.
Mohd Tahir said he tried to brave the flames to rescue the boy, but the fire had spread too quickly and destroyed the entire wooden structure in less than 10 minutes.
A neighbour, Haniah Arif, 56, said she heard the victim’s cries for help but could do nothing due to the intense flames, heat and darkness.
“Before the incident, I couldn’t sleep because the storm and strong winds caused some roofs in the area to make loud noises as if they were about to be torn off.
“Not long after that, the electricity supply was cut off for nearly an hour before the fire occurred, causing panic among the residents.
“The fire is the second incident after the first one in August 2013, which also destroyed more than 30 houses,” she said.
Up to 40 houses were burnt down in this incident, leaving most residents with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
