‘Saya nampak pak long dari celah tingkap, mengerang kesakitan’
An 80-year-old retired soldier died after being trapped in a house fire at Kampung Ajai, Kuala Dong, in Raub district on Saturday night, with villagers unable to reach him due to intense heat and electrical sparks from…
Source: Kosmo Online · September 29, 2026 at 4:32 AM · AI-assisted report
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KAMPUNG AJAI, KUALA DONG, RAUB DISTRICT, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 —
An 80-year-old retired soldier died after being trapped in a house fire at Kampung Ajai, Kuala Dong, in Raub district on Saturday night, with villagers unable to reach him due to intense heat and electrical sparks from the burning structure.
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Abdul Hamid Jaafar was found in the living room of the semi-permanent house, which was about 80 per cent destroyed by the blaze that broke out around 9.45 pm. His wife, Rogayah Yahya, 78, escaped and flagged down passing vehicles for help, not realising her husband was still inside.
Mohamad, a nephew of the victim who is in his 30s and lives nearby, said he received a WhatsApp message about the fire and rushed to the scene with other villagers. “When I arrived, the fire was already big. I tried to call pak long (Abdul Hamid), he answered but with a voice holding back pain,” he said.
From a gap in the window, Mohamad saw his uncle leaning against the living room wall in a weakened state. He and other villagers attempted to extinguish the flames and reach the elderly man, but electrical sparks and searing heat prevented them from entering. “We could see pak long’s body but we could not get in.
There were electrical sparks and the fire was still raging, the heat meant our efforts to help bring pak long out were limited,” Mohamad said.
He added that Abdul Hamid’s advanced age and medical history, including a previous stroke, likely made it difficult for him to escape on his own when the fire started.
Rogayah said she saw the fire growing and ran to the main road in the darkness to stop passing cars, motorcycles and lorries, but none stopped. A passing villager eventually halted and alerted other residents. “At that time I did not know my husband was still in the house. I thought he had already got out,” she said when met at her child’s home on Sunday.
The couple lived alone in the house while their children reside outside the area. Abdul Hamid was a retired army personnel.
Fire and rescue personnel later recovered Abdul Hamid’s body from the living room. The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical in origin, though authorities have not issued a final determination.
Related: Abdul Hamid Jaafar