IPOH, Feb 5 – Four members of a family were burnt to death in a fire which destroyed their house at Taman Bukit Medan Sungai Siput here about midnight last night. The dead were identified as housewife S. Jayalatchumy, 45; her daughters, R. Thilagawati, 23, and R. Puvaneswary, 21, and 17-year-old son, R. Suhan. Operations officer at the Sungai Siput fire station M. Raja Murthy said two engines from the station and Ipoh, with 12 firemen, rushed to the scene after receiving a distress call about midnight.
They took about 20 minutes to control the fire from spreading to a nearby house, he said when contacted by Bernama. He said according to a neighbour, there was a loud explosion from the kitchen before the house went ablaze.
“The neighbour informed firemen that she did not see the occupants leaving the house and following a search, firemen found the charred remains of the victims, hugging each other, in the kitchen,” he added.
The bodies were then sent to the Sungai Siput Hospital for post-mortems. The Fire and Rescue Department is investigating the cause of the fire which caused losses, estimated at RM160,000. It is learnt that the family had moved in to the house eight months ago. Meanwhile, Sungai Siput district police chief Supt Azman Salim said preliminary police investigations ruled out foul play in the death of the victims.
He said the family was believed to be in grief following the death of Jayaletchumy’s husband, M. Rajan, 48, last Friday.
BERNAMA
