SINGAPORE, Dec 7 — Four Malaysians labourers working in Singapore were killed in an early morning fire at a cramped hostel in the famous Geylang area, according to The Star.
Three of the labourers were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, possibly from suffocation, while the fourth died upon arrival at the hospital.
According to The Star daily, the bodies were still at the Singapore General Hospital mortuary at press time.
The dead were identified as Sabahans Jubitol Rumanjing, 37, Maslan Musundo, 43, and Yusoff Masrong, 49, and Ramu Kotiah, 50, from Perak.
All four worked as cleaners in Singapore.
The incident which had taken place at 1.40 am this morning had occurred in one of the units of the three-storey shophouse which had been converted into a workers’ hostel.
The building has been partitioned into 11 rooms, each believed to have been occupied by 10 people.
According to the report, the fire had broken out in the centre of the unit and firefighters had taken 30 minutes to extinguish the flames.
People from the area said that the shoplot was used to house about 100 foreign labourers including those from China, India, and Bangladesh.
Witnesses recounted seeing the incident, saying they saw thick black smoke which they claimed had come out of the ground floor at No. 35, Lorong 4, Geylang.
Five other Malaysian workers and two firefighters were also reported to be injured and sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Singapore General Hospital.
According to reports, neighbours had thought a fight had broken out at the hostel but as the noise got more intense, they discovered that it was a fire.
A resident, who lives on the second storey of the unit, said she and her family woke up to find the place blanketed by thick smoke and smelling of burnt plastic, while other residents said they escaped by sliding down a lamp post.
The residents of affected units were ordered by Police to vacate their premises pending investigations.
According to the report by The Star daily, the next of kin of two of the four victims had been told of their deaths by a Malaysian High Commission official. The Malaysian High Commission is also working with the Malaysian police and Immigration as well as the National Registration Department to trace the other two victims’ next of kin.
Ramu’s nephew, Jaya, was quoted by the Singapore local newspaper, Shin Min Daily News as saying that he was in a taxi with his uncle earlier, and he had spoken to his uncle hours before the tragedy had occurred.
Jaya said his uncle had worked in Singapore for 10 years and he will arrange for his uncle’s body to be sent back to his hometown in Ipoh.
