GEORGE TOWN: "If we had known there were people inside, we would have broken down the door to save them", Bangladeshi worker Rabikul Islam said as he recounted how a pre-dawn fire in Lebuh Melaka here left his Indonesian neighbour dead and four others injured.
The 41-year old said he and his fellow countrymen knocked incessantly on their neighbour's door as soon as they got out of their own house after hearing noises and seeing smoke coming from the house.
However, he said there was no answer, leading him and the others to think that their Indonesian neighbours were not home.
The contract worker, who has been living here for almost 10-years, said at that time the fire had just started from his neighbour's house and the flames were still small.
"However, the fire just grew bigger and bigger within minutes. By then, several fire engines had arrived and firemen rushed in to break down my neighbour's door.
"It was only then we realised that there were five people sleeping inside," he said, adding that the sole casualty may have been saved if he and his friends had broken the door earlier.
Rabikul said he was not really close to his neighbours as all of them usually left for work early in the morning and only returned home late at night.
"I don't actually know how many people were staying in the house but I know all of them were Indonesians," he said, adding that there were three rooms inside the house, one downstairs and another two upstairs.
The pre-dawn fire razed the double-storey shophouse but firemen managed to rescue four Indonesians who were trapped inside. One however was burnt to death.
All those rescued suffered various degrees of burns, including two seriously. They were all sent to the Penang Hospital for treatment.
The injured were identified as Phorpar, 33, Ninik Indah Sari, 33, Supriadi, 39, and Ika, 43.
The identity of the dead Indonesian remains unknown.
Meanwhile, Jalan Perak Fire and Rescue Department operation officer Saladin Abdul Rahim said they were alerted to the fire about 6.01am.
He said when they arrived, the fire had razed about 80 per cent of the double-storey shophouse.
"We were told that there were five people inside. We managed to pull two men and one woman to safety while another occupant managed to run out.
"We found the charred remains of the sole victim after firemen put out the fire. The remains were found on the top floor of the house," he said.
Northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santong said all the injured victims were being treated at the hospital while a post-mortem would be conducted on the deceased.
He said the house was rented by a woman for her two female Indonesian workers at a reflexology centre.
"The three male victims were believed to be friends of the female tenants of the house," he said, adding police were still trying to verify the immigration status of the victims as their documents had been destroyed in the fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.