HOUSE FIRE DESTROYS COUPLE’S AIDILFITRI PREPARATIONS

DUNGUN, March 15 (Bernama) -- A couple’s preparations for Aidilfitri were destroyed after their rented house in Kampung Tanah Lot here caught fire this morning.

Mohd Ridzuan Abu Bakar, 36, said his plan with his wife, Siti Zulaikha Ramli, 35, to wear matching red outfits for Hari Raya this year was dashed when the clothes were among items destroyed in the fire at about 8.15 am.

“We had placed early orders for our baju Melayu and baju kurung even before Ramadan and were looking forward to wearing them on Hari Raya,” he said when met at Kampung Tanah Lot here today.

He said other Aidilfitri preparations were also lost, including festive cookies and a sum of duit raya kept in the house.

“All those items were destroyed in an instant without us having the chance to save anything, and we are now left with nothing,” said Ridzuan, who lives with his wife and has no children.

The private sector employee said both he and his wife were at work when the incident occurred and he only learned about it after receiving a call from a friend at about 8.25 am.

Meanwhile, Dungun Fire and Rescue Station chief Deputy Fire Superintendent II Yahaya Hanapi said the department received an emergency call at 8.21 am and arrived at the scene three minutes later.

He said 13 personnel from the Dungun Fire and Rescue Station and eight from the Paka Fire and Rescue Station were deployed with two fire engines.

“The fire was brought under control at 9.02 am before it was fully extinguished about 30 minutes later,” he said, adding that the semi-permanent house was almost destroyed.

He said the cause of the fire and the estimated losses are still under investigation.

-- BERNAMA