IPOH: Raja Ikhwan Hadi Raja Ahmad’s youngest brother could only watch in vain as their mother cried for help from behind a window grille during a fire that killed a family of three at their house in Taman Desa Tambun here.
The 47-year-old said his brother, Raja Muhamad Syukri, in his 30s, managed to grab their 64-year-old mother, Zaitun Mohamed’s hand, but could not get her out.
Raja Ikhwan Hadi said he was asleep at the porch of the double-storey terrace house at Persiaran Desa Tambun 4 when he heard his nephew shouting for help and the sound of glass shattering.
“I saw my house on fire. I tried to enter, but thick smoke was billowing out and the staircase inside was on fire,” he said yesterday.
“I called my brother, who was staying at his friend’s home nearby.
“He climbed up to the roof at the back of the house where he saw our mother behind the window. He’s too distraught to speak now,” said Raja Ikhwan Hadi, who is the eldest of five siblings.
He added that he tried to put out the fire with a garden hose, but it was too short.
The three who perished in the incident at 4am yesterday were Zaitun, her husband Raja Ahmad Raja Ali, 70, and their grandson Nik Abdurrahman Azimin Harith Helal, 18.
Raja Ikhwan Hadi last saw his mother just a few hours earlier.
“She was switching off the lights in the house and muttered something. I couldn’t make out what she said but she sounded uneasy.”
He said he sleeps at the porch so as not to disturb the family as he usually returns home late from working at his family-run catering business.
Raja Ikhwan Hadi’s brother-in-law, Helal Zamri, 37, who was Nik Abdurrahman’s father, said he only learned about the incident at about 5.30am.
“My wife is unwell, so I kept my mobile phone on silent when we slept. By the time I got to the house, the firemen were already bringing the bodies out,” he added.
Helal said his son stayed with his grandparents as they have been taking care of him since he was a child.
“He was a cheerful person and was different from other teenagers, preferring to stay at home,” he added.
Prime Minister and Tambun MP Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s special officer Mohamad Hairul Amir Sabri presented the family a donation of RM5,000.
He said his team would assist the family in finding temporary accommodation.
In a statement, Perak Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Sayani Saidon said a man was found in a toilet at the ground floor, while two victims were found on the first floor – one in a bathroom and the other in a bedroom.
