Wheelchair-bound senior citizen dies in Tuaran house fire

The damaged house in Kg Tagas Tuaran.

KOTA KINABALU: An elderly man with physical disabilities died in a fire at Kg Tagas, Tuaran district late Sunday (April 2).

The remains of wheelchair-bound Agus Ebah, 72, were discovered after firemen managed to bring the fire under control.

Tuaran fire station chief Mohd Abdul Qawie Abdul Gapar said they received a call at 10.35pm.

“The semi-concrete house was already engulfed in flames when we arrived,” he said when contacted on Monday (April 3).

He said the victim’s wife had run out of the burning home to get help from her children who lived next door as she could not carry her husband out on her own.

“When her children and in-laws tried to get into the house to get Agus out, they could not enter because the flames were too fierce," Abdul Qawie said.

He said firemen managed to bring the fire under control at about 11.30pm and Agus' remains were discovered shortly afterwards.

“Operations ceased at 1.34am and the victim’s remains were handed over to the police for further action,” he added.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, Abdul Qawie added.