SUNGAI PETANI, March 4 ― An 11-year-old girl died in a fire which gutted a synthetic rubber processing factory in the Bakar Arang Industrial Area, here, at about 3am today.

Kuala Muda district deputy police chief Supt Anuar Abdul Rahman @ Abdul Rahim said the charred body of the victim, identified as Misha Kasih, was found on the upper floor of the factory building.

He said according to the 37-year-old factory manager, the victim was the daughter of an Indonesian couple who had been placed under the care of a family after her parents returned to their country of origin.

"The victim was often taken by the factory manager to the premises to play with his children there,” he said in a statement today.

He said the factory building was almost 95 per cent destroyed in the blaze.

Anuar said the victim’s remains were sent to the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, here, for post-morterm.

Meanwhile, Kedah Fire and Rescue Department director Sayani Saidon said the department received a distress call on the incident at 4.11am.

"The firefighters managed to control the blaze at 5.10am and found the victim’s body at 7.30am,” he said adding that the cause of the fire was still being investigated. ― Bernama