PETALING JAYA – When the sliding doors and windows of his double-storey house started shaking violently, Mr Aidil Abd Ghafar thought an aftershock from the Myanmar earthquake had hit Malaysian soil.
He stepped out of his Putra Avenue house to check – only to have a blast of heat hit his face. He saw a towering blaze about 400m away, and he realised that the intense heat and tremors had come from the fire.
Fire officials said the massive fire triggered by a gas pipeline leak forced residents to flee their homes and injured more than 100 people during Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations on the outskirts of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, in Puchong, a town in Selangor, on April 1.
A total of 237 homes were affected, resulting in 305 victims displaced, with some moved to temporary relief centres set up at a nearby mosque.
Mr Aidil said he saw people who lived closer to the fire site being scorched by the heat.
At his house, the 57-year-old said, the heat melted items made of plastic and rubber, including those in his car.
“We could take nothing with us,” said Mr Aidil, who was resting with his family on the second day of Hari Raya before the fire forced them to evacuate.
“We have six cats, I managed to take only one along while the rest were left behind.
“We saw people who lived closer to the fire site. Some were singed while others were scorched, and they were scurrying to safety with injuries.
“Most of those who suffered serious burns were those living around 100m from where the fire broke out. We could see their skin peeling off,” said the semi-retired media executive who was with his son, Mr Amri Rahmat, 35, at Putra Heights Mosque, where dozens of evacuees have sought shelter.
Proactive measures are being studied to aid victims whose homes were affected by the fire, said the Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming on April 2.
“The ministry is ready to engage with all stakeholders, including the Selangor state government and Petronas, to address housing matters,” he said. “Our priority is to ensure affected families receive the necessary support in repairing or completely rebuilding their homes.”
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on April 1 the federal and Selangor state governments, as well as Petronas, will be responsible for repairing and replacing damaged houses. He said cash aid will be provided to victims of the inferno at Putra Heights.
According to Datuk Seri Anwar, those whose homes were completely destroyed will receive RM5,000 (S$1,510) in assistance, while homeowners whose properties were damaged will receive RM2,500.
Mr Aidil believes the fire happened because of a lack of supervision at a row of shophouses being built near the gas pipeline. “That area should not have been disturbed,” he said.
Information technology executive Teoh Poh Hin, 59, who lived closer to the fire, said his house in Putra Avenue suffered major damage.
Mr Teoh and his wife were unaware of the fire until they heard noises and a strange-sounding wind. “That was when we stepped out and saw the air filled with dust and the intense heat. We ran from the house and were brought here in a van,” he said at the mosque.
Mr Teoh, too, suspects that the construction of the shop lots could have led to the fire. “Over the last few days, the developers had dug a large hole nearby. I have lived here for 15 years and did not know there was a gas pipeline. I always thought it was a water pipeline.”
Another affected resident, identified only as Melvin, said he and his wife Sheila fled with only the clothes on their backs when the heat became unbearable.
“We escaped on foot before climbing over a large drain to the Elite Highway and getting here,” he said at another evacuation centre at Sri Maha Kaliamman Temple in Putra Heights.
He added that other residents, including children and elderly people who were wheelchair-bound, escaped the same way.
Melvin, who works in the oil and gas industry, believes the construction of the shop lots was carried out too close to the gas pipeline.
Temple chairman Harvind Ananden said he could see the towering inferno nearby and felt the intense heat from the fire.
“We quickly opened our premises to victims and ambulances. The paramedics set up their base here to treat the injured.
“We have prepared food and drinks for them, and we will keep the temple open for all evacuees as long as needed,” he said.
Aircraft engineer Lim Jit Keng, 57, was another resident who initially thought the tremors were due to an earthquake’s aftershock.
“I felt the house swaying. I looked outside and saw the canvas of my neighbour’s car had melted. Then I saw the massive fire reflected on my neighbour’s window,” he said.
Mr Lim said he thought his roof was on fire, and he and his family fled their house immediately. They are currently staying at a friend’s house.
Another resident, university student Muhammad Faisal Dinie Mohd Zul-Fattah, 22, said he was woken up by what he thought was a sonic boom from an aircraft.
“The house was shaking, and I thought there was an earthquake,” he said.
He, too, saw a reflection of the fire on his neighbour’s window when he looked out.
“I woke everyone up and rushed out of the house. The heat from the fire could be felt inside my house, and my steel gate was too hot to touch,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Malaysia gas pipeline inferno injures over 100: Fire officials39 fall ill in gas leak at Malaysia airport facility
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