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Relative regrets not greeting victim before Tg Sepat tragedy

The brother-in-law to a septuagenarian man who died in a fire in Tanjung Sepat, Sepang today, expressed his regrets for not greeting the victim the last time they set eyes on Monday.

The man, in his late 50s, who declined to be named, said the victim, Chia Tee Nang, 73, and wife, Lim Mai Shak, 68, as well as their grandsons – Ryan Chia Zeng Xi, 10, and Chia Yuan Bin, three, – were pretty close to him as they had been living nearby to each other.

He said he had passed by in front of the elderly couple's house several times that day and saw Tee Nang in the house compound.

“I just honked the car and waved at him. I deeply regret for not dropping by at his house to say hello,” he told reporters as he wiped his tears when met at the scene here.

In the 6am incident, the charred bodies of the elderly couple and their two grandsons, who were cousins, were found in the single-storey wooden house in Jalan Tepi Laut.

According to Selangor police CID chief Fadzil Ahmat, the victims were believed to have been murdered and their bodies torched after police detected stab wounds on three of the bodies.

Another grandson, aged 12, fled from the house and is being treated at the Banting Hospital.

The victim's brother-in-law said he rushed over to the house after being informed about the incident and did not expect that the incident had claimed the lives of the four people.

“I did not expect that his two grandchildren were also killed in the fire. I will never forget the adorable smile of his youngest grandson (Yuan Bin),” said the man who was overcome by emotion.

Earlier, Tee Nang's two sons, who are also the fathers to the boys, were also at the scene.

However, interviews with the men could not be obtained as they could only communicate in sign language.

Meanwhile, Tanjung Sepat Volunteer Fire Brigade chairperson Lim Chin Lee, 57, who also witnessed the incident, said two fire engines with 20 volunteer firefighters were deployed to the scene.

“However, the search and rescue efforts were a daunting task due to the raging fire,” he said.

According to Lim, the victim's grandson who survived the incident told villagers that he woke up about 3am to the suspicious sound coming from the car garage, before he saw two masked-men with their grandparents.

“He said he spotted that his grandfather and grandmother's head were bleeding, and that he went to hide in a toilet.

“He only came out from the toilet after smelling of smoke and ran towards his uncle's house,” Lim added.

According to a relative who wished to be known only as William, 26, the respective parents of Ryan Chia and Yuan Bin lived in Kuala Lumpur and would only visit their sons once a week.

Speaking to reporters at the scene of the fire, he said the fathers of the boys could communicate only through sign language.

Meanwhile, Mai Shak's younger brother who refused to be identified said his sister and her husband had just returned from a holiday trip to Vietnam last Saturday.

"It was a memorable trip that brought together not only our siblings but all of my brother-in-law’s brothers and sisters. We were very happy that we got to spend time together,” he said, adding that he last spoke to Mai Shak yesterday.

“My sister called me up and asked how I was doing yesterday. And this morning I got a call informing me that she had died. I was shocked by the news and rushed here from Johor Bharu," he said.

- Bernama

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