BERNAMA – A man lost his mother and two siblings simultaneously in a fire at a two-storey shophouse on Jalan Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang in Malaysia yesterday.
The man, who wanted to be known as Rashid, 30, said the fire claimed the lives of his mother, Nurul Bowjiya, 58, his brother Muhamad Ibrahim, 33, and sister Rahbiah Jasmin, 20. He said he is still traumatised and shocked by the triple tragedy that befell his family and it left him, an orphan and homeless.
Rashid said the incident happened very quickly and the three siblings were sleeping on the top floor of the two-storey shop while his mother had gone downstairs.
“My mother discovered there was smoke in the front of the house and shouted smoke several times before my brother and I rushed downstairs to save ourselves.
“My mother tried to get water to put out the fire and then she realised my younger sister was still upstairs before she went back up (to the upstairs) followed by my brother, at that time I was already outside the shop,” he said when met by reporters at Balik Pulau Hospital Forensic Unit.
Rashid said he tried three times to get back into the house to save his mother and two siblings but failed because the fire spread quickly and the smoke was very thick. He said at that time he prayed they would be found safely but as soon as he was informed that the three had died, he was speechless and even shocked because he was only one person left in the family.
“They followed the right way out, which is the front door where the fire was raging, if they followed the back door, they might have been able to save themselves,” he said.