FOUR-YEAR-OLD BOY DIES IN MELAKA ROOM FIRE

MELAKA, May 16 (Bernama) -- A four-year-old boy died in a room fire in the Paya Rumput People's Housing Project (PPR) flats here today.

Melaka Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) assistant director (Operations) Senior Fire Officer II Mohd Shahrom Laji said the victim was found dead in one of the three rooms in the flat, located on the sixth floor of the PPR, in an incident at about 2.20 pm.

“We received a call at about 2.39 pm before 17 personnel and two fire engines from the Ayer Keroh and Cheng Fire and Rescue (BBP) stations were dispatched to the location about eight minutes later.

"As soon as the fire was brought under control, rescuers found the body of the child, who was the fourth of five siblings, in an unlocked room lying on the floor," he said when met by reporters at the scene here today.

He said the initial investigation found that at the time of the incident, the victim's mother and siblings were in the house but managed to escape when the fire occurred.

"Thirty per cent of the flat was destroyed while the overall structure of the building is safe to inhabit," he said, adding that the exact cause of the incident and value of the losses are still under investigation.

Meanwhile, Housing, Local Government, Drainage, Climate Change and Disaster Management senior state executive councillor Datuk Rais Yasin, who is also the state assemblyman for Paya Rumput, said the state government is providing initial assistance through the Melaka Housing Board (LPM) by offering temporary housing to the victim’s family in the affected PPR.

He also said the Paya Rumput State Assembly Development and Coordination Committee (Japerun) Office will assist with the burial arrangements for the victim after the post-mortem is carried out at Melaka Hospital.

-- BERNAMA