KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — Slash and stab wounds were found on three of four people killed in a Tanjung Sepat fire earlier confirmed to be arson, prompting police to reclassify the case as murder.

Selangor Criminal Investigations Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Fadzil Ahmat said forensic investigators made the discovery when examining the bodies of those killed in the 6am fire.

“Crime scene investigators from Selangor police found injuries consistent with slashings on three of the victims. All are believed to have been murdered and then burned.

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“We are also investigating claims they were robbed and that possibly this was an act of revenge,” he said.

Fadzil said the new discovery meant the actual cause of death may only be determined once the post mortem examinations are completed.

Recounting the facts of the case, he said police received a distress call around 5.50am, with firefighters alerted and arriving shortly after.

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Investigators then discovered signs of arson, finding traces of accelerants around the fuel tank of the family car.

The car was believed to have been used to set the wooden house on fire.

Fadzil said the suspicion of arson prompted investigators to examine the bodies more closely, leading to the discovery of the wounds.

Kuala Langat police chief Superintendent Azizan Tukiman told Malay Mail earlier that the sole survivor of the incident, a 12-year-old boy, was still traumatised from the incident.

The wooden home was burned to the ground around 6am today, killing the four occupants.

The dead were identified as Lim Mai Shak, 68; Chia Tee Nang, 73; and Chua Yan Bin, three; and another boy who is yet to be positively identified.

Their bodies, which were sent to Hospital Banting for examinations, were found burned amidst the rubble after fire fighters took almost an hour to put out the flames.

*Editor’s note: The report has been amended to indicate that slash wounds were found on three of the bodies instead of all four, upon the police’s clarification.