KUALA NERUS: A mother never expected that the video call she received yesterday afternoon would be the last from her nine-year-old son, who died in a house fire at Kampung Tok Jembal here early today.
Siti Nasuha Mohd, 32, said her son, Rehan Yusuf Amirul Fahmi, nine, had been placed under the care of her former husband, Amirul Fahmi Wan Jusoh, 40, who also died in the incident, after she moved to Kuala Lumpur to look for work.
"We usually talk through video calls every night, normally until 10pm. Last night, he made a video call at 7.28pm, but I could not answer as I was busy working. After returning from work at about 12.30am, I listened to the voice message he had left on WhatsApp. In the message, he said, ‘abang loves mummy and mummy Ji’ (stepmother).
"I made a video call, but there was no answer. Perhaps he had already gone to sleep as today was a school day,” she said when met at the Forensic Medicine Unit of Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Hospital (HoSZA) here today.
Siti Nasuha said she received news of the fire at about 3.15am today through a phone call from her elder sister who lives in Kuantan, Pahang, before rushing back alone by car at about 4am.
While on the way, Siti Nasuha said she was contacted by her former mother-in-law, who informed her that her former husband and their son, who were in an upstairs bedroom, had been unable to escape.
"Throughout the journey, I cried and prayed that Allah SWT would save my former husband and son. However, at about 6am, my mother called and told me that both could not be saved.
"Although I was devastated, I had to gather the strength to drive alone. Alhamdulillah, I arrived safely at about 8am today. However, I still regret not answering his video call yesterday, especially when I remember his last words,” she said, holding back tears.
Meanwhile, the wife of the late Amirul Fahmi, Nur Izzah Ahmad, 36, said that at the time of the incident, she and their two other sons, aged four years and three months, were staying overnight at her family home in Kampung Paloh, Kuala Terengganu.
However, she said her late husband and stepson had returned to her mother-in-law’s house yesterday afternoon as today was a school day.
Nur Izzah, who works as a clerk at a restaurant in Kuala Terengganu, said that after getting married in 2021, she and her husband had been staying alternately at their respective family homes as they did not yet have a house of their own.
"We planned to move into my mother-in-law’s house in Kampung Tok Jembal next month. That was why we had already bought and brought many items into the house in preparation.
"Yesterday, my late husband asked me to take leave as our three-month-old baby was unwell. I never imagined that in the blink of an eye, I would lose my son and husband,” she said.
Nur Izzah said the remains of her husband and stepson were expected to be prayed over at Tok Jembal Jamek Mosque before being buried at the Tok Jembal Muslim Cemetery later this afternoon.
In the incident at 2.48am today, the father and son died while another family member was rescued in the fire at Kampung Tok Jembal, near here. - Bernama
