KOTA KINABALU: Five children were killed in a fire that razed through five squatter houses at a water village in Likas near here on Monday (Sept 30).
The victims, all girls aged one to 14, were found in two of the burnt down houses between 2pm and 3pm, said State Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Farhan Sufyan Borhan.
He said they were first informed about the five missing girls from victims who managed to run out of their homes.
He said the rescue effort was focused on locating the girls and putting out the fire while preventing it from spreading.
“When the flames were brought under control, our men found the charred remains of four victims and later on, another one,” Farhan said at the scene.
Earlier, he said they received a distress call at around 12.47pm, and teams from various fire stations were dispatched to the scene.
“48 firemen from the Lintas, Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and the headquarters here arrived to extinguish the fire, which destroyed five houses, a sundry shop and a store unit,” he said.
Farhan said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire, but they found that the incident started in a house closest to the river.
Kota Kinabalu police chief ACP Kasim Muda said police were on the scene to investigate and are working together with firemen and other security agencies.
He said police have classified this case under the sudden death report for now.
