|
Fire gutted a shophouse in Chinatown yesterday. Two
men and a woman were burnt to death. A resident, Mr
Ahmad Saad who lived on the second storey, survived and
had this story to tell. "There were ten of us living
in that house. We were all working for People's
Constructions. We shared rooms - two to a room. The fire
started shortly after nine when I was about to leave the
house to see a doctor. I believed most of my friends in
the morning shift had left for work earlier. The lorry
usually comes to pick us up at eight o'clock. I was
going to the kitchen when I saw the staircase engulfed
in smoke. I shouted to alert my friends who were on the
afternoon shift. Then I rushed back into my room and
yelled for help. There was no other escape route. My
room was soon filled with smoke too. I heard someone
screaming and I tried to go to him. However, I was
almost overcome by the fumes and had to save myself
first. I ran to the window and jumped." Two fire
engines put out the blaze within twenty minutes. The
neighbouring houses were not affected at all. A charred
leg, sticking out from under some debris in the burnt
out shophouse was the first indication that some people
did not make it out alive. Digging deeper into the
debris, firemen found two bodies locked in an embrace.
The third was found under a smouldering wooden beam.
Police believe that they could have been sleeping and
had woken to find the fire raging near them. According
to a lecturer who had dealt with several cases of fire
victims, the three might have died from inhaling
excessive smoke. She maintained that in a fire, a person
who is sleeping will find it easier to breathe as there
is more oxygen nearer the ground. Smoke rises. However,
when that person wakes up and finds himself surrounded
by smoke, he tends to panic and inhales more smoke.
Residents who escaped the trauma were truly glad that
they were hard at work yesterday. |
