Published on: Thursday, November 19, 2009 |
What was most fortunate was that he managed to grab his two children aged 6 and 4 - who were still inside and unconscious by the smoke - to safety in the 2am incident.
It was learnt that police marine Mohd Danial M. John Abdullah had earlier gone to fetch his wife Karina Mohd Sidik, 33, from work at Tanjung Aru at about 1.20am.
"Everything seemed normal then. I fetched my children from my cousin's house in Tanjung Aru after I finished working at about midnight. When we arrived home, they watched television and I went to fetch my wife at 1.20am.
"As I reached home with my wife about 2am, I was surprised to see crowds surrounding my house. There were no firemen so I did not know what was happening," he said, adding that his neighbour rushed to him and told him his house had caught on fire.
"I asked them whether they have seen my children and they said 'no'. I rushed inside the house. It was burning hot and I could not see a thing, as there was too much smoke.
"I did not know where they were but I managed to locate and carry them out," he said. His daughter Siti Jasmi, 6, and son Mohd Danmi, 4, was already unconscious when they were brought out of the house due to inhaling the smoke.
A neighbour Zaina Md Taib, 38, said she had earlier peeked at the window to see whether anyone was inside the house.
"There was too much of smoke and I did not see anyone. I did not know the children were inside É everyone was trying to stop the fire by splashing pails of water," she said.
Few minutes later, three fire engines were deployed to the scene and managed to stop the fire from spreading to nearby houses.
The two children were sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment by neighbours. They suffered 25 per cent of burns on their body but stable.
Meanwhile, Mohd Danial suffered minor burn injuries on his leg, and hand.
