Man destroys window grilles to save children trapped during shophouse fire
The second storey of a shophouse in Port Klang, Malaysia, went up in flames early Wednesday evening (12 Aug).
The fire killed two people, a 66-year-old man and an eight-year-old boy, confirmed dead at the scene.
Two others were sent to hospital due to breathing difficulties, according to The Sun Daily.
Viral footage circulating on social media shows a man in a striped shirt destroying the iron grilles covering the second-floor window.
He got two children out of their burning residence with the help of other passersby.
Source: @notatanparupa on Threads
Man climbed over wire fence to help
Speaking to MS News, the man’s wife, Pieda Ibrahim, identified the hero as Rahmat Burhan Umur, 26, a welder.
The newlyweds said they had just moved to the area near the scene.
At around 5.40pm on Wednesday, Ms Pieda’s younger sibling told her husband they smelled smoke that seemed to come from a fire.
Hearing this, Mr Rahmat immediately put on a shirt and jumped over the wire fence to reach the source of the smoke quickly.
“People were already screaming for help,” Ms Pieda recalled.
“Before leaving, my husband told me to call 999 immediately,” she said, adding that she made the emergency call at 5.50pm.
Man heard mother’s cries for help
Meanwhile, Mr Rahmat said he saw the children’s mother shouting for help, and he knew he couldn’t stand by.
“I saw the victim’s mother screaming for help from a distance,” he told MS News.
“It was a serious emergency. I could not bear to see the two siblings in such distress.”
Source: @notatanparupa on Threads
After climbing the exterior of the building, someone handed him a hammer to destroy the iron bars covering the window.
He struck them repeatedly until they came loose.
Once this was done, two other men helped him hold the iron grilles open so the children could get out.
Source: @notatanparupa on Threads
Girl asks man to rescue one more sibling
While he was able to help the two children to safety, they were still missing a sibling.
“While I was rescuing two siblings, the sister hugged me and said, ‘Please save my younger sibling who is in the restroom’,” he told MS News.
Image courtesy of Ms Pieda.
He quickly rushed to the back of the building to help rescue the boy.
Third sibling unfortunately died in the blaze
Unfortunately, the boy was later found dead by firefighters after the blaze was extinguished.
Mr Rahmat said he felt very sad for being unable to save the third sibling, but everyone there had told him to wait for the fire department to arrive because the fire had become too hot.
He tried to stick his head into the window of the toilet, but his hair caught fire.
Image courtesy of Ms Pieda.
Mr Rahmat said he sustained slight lacerations on both hands from handling metal or contact with glass.
Some of his hair was also singed.
Also read: River Valley school thanks 17 teachers for risking safety to evacuate kids from fire
River Valley school thanks 17 teachers for risking safety to evacuate kids from fire
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Featured image courtesy of Ms Pieda.
