KUALA LUMPUR: Thirty people were left with only the clothes on their backs when 10 units of the Lengkok Abdullah KTMB quarters in Bangsar Utama here were gutted in a fire this morning.
11 cars and six motorcycles parked in a communal garage were also destroyed.
However, no casualty was reported in the blaze which began at 10am.
Survivor Mohamad Zamid Jumali, 30, said he was asleep in his unit when he was startled by intense heat.
“I woke up at about 10am to discover that my house was full of smoke. I immediately ran out. I managed to salvage my motorcycle and personal documents – but all my other belongings are gone,” said the KTMB maintenance worker.
Zamid added that this was the first time in the eight years he had been living at the quarters that a fire had broken out.
It is learnt that eight people were in their units when the fire began, but all managed to escape unharmed.
Pantai Fire and Rescue Department chief Hamid Daud said they received a distress call at 10.03am, and a total of 60 firefighters from the Pantai, Hang Tuah, Setapak, Seputeh, Taman Tun and Sentul fire stations were rushed to the scene.
“It took us about 10 minutes to control the situation.
“The cause of the fire is still under investigation” he told reporters at the scene.
Meanwhile, KTM Berhad chief executive officer Rani Hisham Samsudin said they will distribute RM3,000 to each victim as early financial aid.
“The victims will be placed at the surau here temporarily, while we search for available (accommodation for them).
“We will also launch a programme to collect clothes for the victims, as they lost everything in the fire,” he said.
Rani Hisham added that the victims were mostly train drivers and maintenance workers of KTMB and their families.
Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Fahmi Fadzil later visited the scene.