Two-year old boy killed in Butterworth fire

BUTTERWORTH - A two-year-old boy, who was believed to be sleeping, died after the room in the flat he lived in with his family caught fire at Taman Pantai Bersih, here today.

Butterworth Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) Operations Officer Mohd Nasir Idris said the fire department received a distress call at 8.29am regarding a fire in a flat located on the second floor of the four floors.

" When the fire and rescue team arrived they found that a room in a flat house was on fire and the fire was successfully extinguished.

"About 20 per cent of the room was destroyed in the fire and we were informed that there was a two-year-old child in the room," he said when contacted today.

He said the fire department's inspection of the room found the boy who had died.

Mohd Nasir said the victim's body was sent to Seberang Jaya Hospital for a post-mortem.

He said the cause of the fire and the amount of loss is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, Acting Police Chief of North Seberang Perai District (SPU), Supt Siti Nor Salawati Saad when contacted confirmed the fire caused the death of the boy.

"Based on initial information the victim was sleeping in the room while his mother had left for work at 7.30am," she said.

She added that during the incident his grandmother was taking a bath while other family members were sleeping and that police were still conducting further investigations into the incident. - BERNAMA