ALOR GAJAH, Aug 28 — A gas stove exploded at a house in Durian Tunggal here, overturning a container of boiling water that scalded the back and buttocks of a two-year-old boy, according to police.

The incident happened at about 5pm on August 18 in Taman Desa Idaman Dua, said Alor Gajah District Police chief Supt A. Asmadi Abdul Aziz.

He said the boy’s mother was cutting fruits next to the stove when the incident happened.

Asmadi ruled out any criminal element in the incident and said civil action could be taken against the distributor if the stove was the cause of the explosion.

A police report on the incident, a photograph of the scalded boy and the stove went viral on social media yesterday, prompting netizens to question the safety and quality of local products, considering that the stove was bought just three months ago.

Meanwhile, the boy’s father, Wong Lin Siang, 37, said he bought the stove in Johor on May 28 for RM380 and it was still on a year’s warranty.

Wong said that his son, the younger of two siblings, had to be treated at the Pantai Hospital in Melaka for eight days.

Durian Tunggal assemblyman Mohd Sofi Abdul Wahab, who is the chairman of the State Works, Transport and Public Amenities Committee, visited the family and said the manufacturer of the stove would be contacted to secure compensation.

He said the incident was not caused by the negligence of the boy’s parents and there was no leakage of gas at that time. — Bernama