IPOH: The entertainment outlet which was engulfed in a fire that killed six people early today was originally planned as an office building.
Perak acting Fire and Rescue Department director, Sayani Saidon said it was not known if the entertainment outlet owner had changed the status of the building to operate it as such.
“I was informed that the original plan of the building was a property office building. After the property office building owner sold to the other owner, we did not receive the plan for building amendments.
“The original plan that we have is an office building owned by Team Keris Properties but it was sold.
Sayani said investigations were ongoing to ascertain if the owners had come out with amendment plan.
“If we see the building from inside, it is definitely looks like an office, equipped with hose reel and smoke detector,” she said when met at the scene.
Sayani said the department received a distress call on the incidents at 5.49am and upon arrival, there were 10 people trapped in the building.
She said the fire broke out in the forth floor of the building which has 15 karaoke rooms. During the rescue operation, eight people managed to escape by going up to the fifth floor.
“Eight victims were taken down by using stairs, while two of them suffered from breathing difficulties. They were sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital for further treatment,” she said.
She said checks in the fourth floor showed that two local men were killed due to breathing difficulties from smoke inhalation.
“Four more victims in the remaining rooms included two Vietnamese women, a Bangladeshi man and another man which identity yet to be known,” she said.
Asked if the entertainment outlet was operating when the fire happened, Sayani said it was chaos during the rescue time.
“We could not be sure if the premise was operating or it had already closed, but based on the situation at the scene we believe it was still operating.
“We are still investigating the cause of the fire,” she said adding that the operation involved 50 firemen from Ipoh, Pasir Puteh, Meru Raya and policemen.
Meanwhile, police were investigating if the entertainment outlet had extended its operating hours on the night of the incident.
Six people were killed and two critically injured when fire broke out at the forth floor of the Times Square building here at 5.30am.
Perak deputy police chief, Superintendent Mohamad Nordin Abdullah said police would investigate the case from every angle.
“Should the entertainment outlet had extended their operating hours, actions will be taken.
“At this moment, we are still investigating the case and we will wait for an official report from the Fire and Rescue Department to complete the investigation paper,” he said when met at the scene.
Mohamad Nordin added that police were also identifying the families of the victims who were killed during the fire.