A 66-year-old man was found dead after the two-storey house he lived in was destroyed by fire near Pasar Gok Kapor along Jalan Pantai Cahaya Bulan in Kota Bharu on Thursday night.
Kota Bharu Fire and Rescue Station operations commander Senior Fire Officer II Ridzuan Baharudin said the department received an emergency call about the incident at 8.43pm.
Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters found that a permanent two-storey house was engulfed in flames, with about 95 per cent of the structure destroyed.
“During the firefighting operation, we received information that there was a victim inside the house,” he said when contacted by Sinar Harian.
The victim, a 66-year-old man, was later found dead inside the bathroom.
Ridzuan said firefighters used two pump lines with four jets to battle the blaze, which was brought under control at about 9.24pm.
The operation involved 35 personnel, comprising four Senior Fire Officers II, 23 firefighters, one auxiliary firefighter and seven members of the Pengkalan Chepa Volunteer Fire Brigade.
He said the cause of the fire and the total losses were still under investigation.
Meanwhile, emergency caller On Peng Lun, 33, said he was with the victim’s relatives when the incident occurred.
He said they contacted the fire and rescue department before rushing to the scene.
According to On, the victim was believed to have been alone when the fire broke out and may not have had enough time to escape as the flames spread rapidly.
