SIBU: A masseuse, who is the key suspect in the arson case of a shophouse in Kampung Nyabor Road here, has been sent for medical examination at Sibu Hospital.
The Vietnamese national is believed to have suffered work-related stress.
The 11.30am fire on Wednesday razed rooms on top of the three-storey shophouse. The massage parlour, where the suspect worked, is on the second floor.
According to her friends who also stay at that building, she was acting very strangely prior to the incident.
“When we checked on her later, we saw that she was releasing the gas from a cooking cylinder and tried to light it up. We immediately stopped her,” one of them said.
The suspect then went to her room and after several minutes, they saw smoke coming out from it.
“We tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. She opened the door but she ran out and tried to light the gas again.
“As we chased after her, she managed to run out of the building. By then, the fire had already spread,” one of them said, adding that it was a chaotic scene as everybody ran towards safety.
It is believed that the suspect, who is married with a child, was desperately missing her family back home and wanted to return to Vietnam, but was unable to do so as she was still bound by her work contract.