A Family Died Screaming For Help In A Horrific Fire In USJ2
The fire broke out at about 5.30am on 6 February.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 06 Feb 2017, 04:05 PM — Updated almost 8 years ago
Smoke inhalation killed the friendly family of four in tragic USJ2 fire
The late Lim Ah Kok and his family. The only surviving member of the family is his daughter, Lim Yi Jun, who was at the college hostel at the time of the incident.
Image via BernamaAccording to Bernama, Subang Jaya District Police Chief ACP Mohammad Azlin Sadari, confirmed that the victims died due to smoke inhalation. The cause of death was confirmed after the post-mortems were conducted on the victims at the Serdang Hospital yesterday, 6 February.
The authorities discovered the bodies of Lim Ah Kok and his two sons, Lim Yong Liang and Lim Yong Wei in one of the rooms upstairs, faced down while the body of their mother, Goh Bee Khim was found in a sitting position in the bathroom.
Mohammad Azlin also believes that was no criminal element in the fire that engulfed the family of four, as the fire started on the ground floor of the house while the family was found upstairs.
"So far, no criminal element has been reported in the matter, but we are still waiting for the forensic report from the Fire and Rescue Department," he told Bernama when contacted here today.
"If there is a criminal element or any individual who purposely started a fire with the intention of killing the victims, he would have done it outside the rooms on the first floor and not on the ground floor," he explained.
It was reported that by the time the firemen reached the house, about 10 minutes after they received the distress call, the fire was already too big
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operations) Mohd Sani Harul explained that the rescue team had trouble entering the house as the front gate was locked.
"We had to cut the autogate's lock," he said.
Meanwhile, another team got onto the roof of the house through a neighbour's house and managed to bring the fire under control and stop it from spreading.
Subang Jaya District Police Chief ACP Mohammad Azlin Sadari said that the family may have been trapped in by the iron grille on their windows.
He also reminded the public to ensure that they have iron grilles that can actually be opened during emergencies.
Meanwhile, relatives said that the family had just come back from their hometown in Penang last Monday, 30 January, after celebrating Chinese New Year there.
Goh Bee Khim’s nephew, said that the Lim family had just visited his home in Klang a day before the tragedy.
The family's two dogs survived the fire and is currently under the care of one of their neighbours.
Image via BernamaSpeaking to Bernama, Goh's niece, 34-year-old Suzette Chong said that the family was very close-knit and had spent a lot of time together.
"I have just spent Christmas and New Year with her and other relatives in Taiwan," she said.
It was also reported that Lim is a real estate agent and was very involved in local community activities.
The family's two dogs had survived the fire and are currently under the care of neighbour, Wong Wern Ching, 21.
"I woke my father up but by the time we rushed outside, one of our neighbours told us that the screams had stopped," added Wong.
6 FEBRUARY: A vicious blaze that engulfed a house in the USJ 2 area left a family of four dead. The incident happened at about 5.30am today, 6 February.
According to a report by New Straits Times, the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department operations officer Mohd Hissam Sidik, got the distress call at 5.34am.
"The fire was controlled at 6am, and during the overhaul works, Bomba officers found four bodies of victims who had burned to death.
"Three bodies were found in two separate bedrooms, while the last body was found in the bathroom," explained Hisham, adding that 80% of the double-storey class "A" terrace house was destroyed in the early morning fire.
16 officers from the Subang Jaya and Seksyen 7 Bomba officers rushed to the scene and managed to put out the fire. The Bomba department is currently running investigations on the cause of the fire.
The bodies have been sent to Serdang Hospital for post-mortem.
The victims who perished in the fire have been identified as Lim Ah Kok, 58, his wife, Goh Bee Khim, 52, and their two sons, Lim Yong Liang, 20 and Lim Yong Wei, 17.
The deceased couple's another child, Lim Yi Jun, had escaped the horrific incident as she lives in her college hostel.
Lim Yi Jun (left) had to be dressed in safety gears before she was allowed to enter her home this morning.
Image via NSTYi Jun reportedly arrived at the scene at about 10.13am, seen comforted by relatives and neighbours.
It was mentioned that Ah Kok was an active member of the USJ 2 Residents Association.
It was reported that the Lim family's neighbour, Mohd Dzamalkhan Abdullah Sani, 41, was the first to notice the fire that broke out at about 5.30am
"My wife alerted me and I could hear them screaming for help. I immediately called the fire and rescue department and in less than 10 minutes they arrived.
"We rushed to the house, but we could not do much. The blaze was raging. They continued screaming, but all we could do was watch in horror until they finally went quiet," said Dzamalkhan.
He also described the family as very friendly and helpful, adding that he last saw them about two weeks ago, but had not managed to catch up with them as they were busy preparing for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Meanwhile, another neighbour that wished to be anonymous claimed that the house's locked safety grills made the rescue efforts more difficult
"The gates were locked by an automatic system and the house did not have any emergency exits as well.
"We felt helpless and could only witness the firemen do their job," said the neighbour, as reported by NST today, 6 February.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operations) Mohd Sani Harul, believes that the victims died from smoke inhalation
He also suspects that the fire could have started from the ground floor of the house.
"We believe the victims had tried to escape once they realised what had happened, but could not get downstairs due to the fire," added Sani.