KUCHING: The charred remains of a six-year-old boy was found following an afternoon blaze at a house in Lorong 16, RPR Batu Kawa yesterday.
The tragic incident occurred around 1.10 pm and affected a total of five double-storey houses in the neighbourhood.
Two of the houses were completely destroyed, while the others suffered partial damage.
Assistant director of operations of Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department Henderi Ardimansyah, said that the boy, identified as Zayyan Nazeem Zainal Abidin, was found on the second floor of one of the burnt houses.
“He was found in the back room during the overhaul operations around 3.33 pm,” he said.
At the time of the incident, two individuals – the grandmother and her grandson (the deceased) – were in the second floor.
“The grandmother, who managed to escape to safety, alerted us that her grandson was still trapped inside. However, our team faced difficulties in accessing the second floor due to the intense fire and the unstable structure,” he explained.
The boy’s body was handed over to the police to be taken to the hospital, where post-mortem examinations.
Meanwhile, residents in the other houses successfully evacuated, and no injuries were reported among them.
Henderi added that several factors contributed to the rapid spread of the fire, including the hot weather, the absence of wall dividers within the houses, and the wooden structure of the upper floors.
Firefighters from Batu Lintang and Padungan stations swiftly responded to the emergency, deploying a total of 22 personnel to control the fire’s spread and carry out extinguishing efforts.
The cause of the fire and the extent of the losses incurred are still under investigation.
