Senior citizen killed in terrace house fire

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A senior citizen was killed in a fire at a terrace house in Taman Sri Kijang, Machang Bubok, here.
Central Seberang Perai police chief ACP Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said Tan Fong Weng, 66, died in the Bukit Mertajam hospital of breathing difficulties, due to smoke inhalation.
He said the victim was asleep during the incident at 10.30am. Both his son and daughter-in-law were not at home at the time.
Tan was rescued by firemen who sent him to the Bukit Mertajam hospital.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Penang Fire and Rescue Department said a distress call was received from the public at 10.40am.
He said a team of 19 personnel from the Bandar Perda fire station arrived at the scene at 11.03am.
The spokesman said the team found two houses on fire at the scene.
"The first premise was 90% destroyed while the second house was 20% damaged," he said.
The spokesperson said the firemen managed to control the fire after 17 minutes.
He said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.