KOTA KINABALU: The five victims burnt to death in a three-house fire in Jalan Lembaga Padi, Lorong Burung Keleto, Likas here this afternoon were siblings from two families.
Lintas fire and rescue station chief Lintas Agustavia Joe Guasi said the victims were identified as sisters Raisa Adrian, four, Raidah, three, and Raina, one, and another pair of sisters, Amidah Wahid, 14, and her younger sister Siti Faridah, three.
“They were all found in the same house, which belonged to the three sisters, and the other two girls were their neighbours who lived nearby,” she told reporters here today, adding that the mother of the three girls, who is pregnant, was unhurt in the fire and was sent to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Likas here for further treatment.
Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu district police chief ACP Kasim Muda said the police and other related agencies are investigating the fire and the deaths, which are currently classified as sudden deaths.
“We are investigating and working with the Fire Department and other agencies,” he said, urging the public to not speculate on the matter.
E-hailing driver, Johanis Majan, 47, who lives in the vicinity, said that he was shocked when he heard people screaming and rushed out of his house and saw the fire raging in the area.
“People said there were children in the house, so I, along with others, tried to look for a way to enter (the house) but it was hard because the zinc (roofing) was scattered, the smoke was really so thick we couldn’t see anything,” he said when met at the location of the fire today.
Housewife Aini Mariati Jafar, 39, said she and her husband tried to get near to help but could not breathe due to the thick smoke and they had to retreat from the area.
“It’s very sad because we usually met the girls when we passed the house, everyone tried to help by going in but couldn’t. There was a fire previously but not so bad till people got killed,” she added.
Firefighters had arrived at the scene of the fire at 12.54 pm and managed to bring the blaze under control by 1.29 pm.
