Escape route on roof saves family of five from fiery death

KUCHING: A family of five resorted to climbing onto the roof of a shophouse building at Kenyalang Park here to escape from the fire that struck their unit early yesterday.

Lim Kien Soon, 50, led his wife and their three children – aged between 11 and 19 – to the roof around 3am after having realised that it was too risky for them to go down as smoke had filled the rooms on the first floor.

Lim’s mother-in-law, 72 – known only as Chai – told reporters that she was relieved to see that all five managed to escape the fire.

“It took me almost half an hour to look for them. It happened so fast. I did smell the smoke after waking up in the middle of the night, but only after my daughter knocked on my door did I realise there was a fire.

“I could only grab my sweater and run outside. The room was filled with smoke but having lived here for 47 years, I knew my way around. I managed to find the key to the door and ran downstairs,” she said.

However, Chai said she panicked upon knowing that the other five were not on safe ground.

“I was hysterical, thinking only about the bad things. It was not until about half-an-hour later that I could heave a sigh of relief upon seeing them as they came down safely from an adjacent shophouse,” she cried.

It is believed that the fire started on the first floor, which housed Chai’s sewing shop. However, the cause and estimation of losses have yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the state Fire and Rescue Department said a team from the Kuching station assisted by personnel from the Batu Lintang station arrived at the scene around 15 minutes after having received a distress call at 3.37am.

The 14-member team – led by senior personnel Mashidi Taha dan Hamidi Manas – managed to control the flames from spreading at 4.22am and put them out at 5.24am.

All six victims were sent to Sarawak General Hosptial to receive treatment.