JOHOR BARU: A 24-year-old man poured petrol and set fire in front of his father’s house, due to dissatisfaction with his father, but the fire spread and destroyed nine other houses in Jalan Dahlia, Kampung Melayu, near Kluang, early this morning.
Kluang district police chief ACP Mohd Abduh Ismail said the 6.25am incident also destroyed several other vehicles but did not cause any casualties.
He said the Kluang district control centre received a MERS 999 call about the fire.
“When the police patrol car arrived at the scene, the police found 10 houses had been burnt and the Fire and Rescue Department had completely extinguished the fire,” he said in a statement, here today.
Mohd Abduh said police later detained the man to assist in the investigation. However, the urine test for drugs conducted on him came back negative.
“Initial investigations on the man, who was believed to be suffering from a mental disorder or hallucination, have found that he used petrol to set fire in front of the house, due to dissatisfaction with his father, before the fire spread to the neighbouring houses.
“The fire involved rented terrace kampung houses which were partly-wooden,” he said.
Mohd Abduh said other items destroyed in the fire included a lorry, three motorcycles, various electrical items, important documents and pieces of jewellery the value of which had not been ascertained yet.
He said a total of 28 people were affected by the fire, including children and they were temporarily sheltered at the Rumah Murah Kluang 2 community hall in Kampung Melayu.
He said so far eight police reports had been lodged and the case was being investigated under Section 435 of the Penal Code for causing mischief by fire. - Bernama
