Some 70 cats and five dogs were killed in the house fire in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, which claimed the life of an elderly woman this evening.
The owner of the house, Norhaeda Azahari, said the cats were kept in a cage when the fire broke out, Sinar Harian reported.
“The five stray dogs that I fed also perished,” she was quoted as saying.
Earlier, Bernama reported that an 89-year-old woman was burnt to death in the fire which almost completely destroyed the house near Jalan Tok Guru.
Sinar Harian identified the victim as Fatimah Mat Said. Norhaeda is her adopted daughter.
Norhaeda said she was in Pengkalan Chepa for work when she received a call at about 6pm informing her about the fire.
She rushed home, only to be told that Fatimah had died.
“I am still in shock. My adopted mother and my pets are gone,” she said.
A neighbour said she saw the woman waving and shouting for help, but she could not do anything as the heat was too intense.
Kota Bharu fire and rescue station operations commander Satyuti Satar said they received a call at about 6pm and dispatched a team of 27 personnel to the scene.
When the fire engines arrived minutes later, they found that 98% of the house had been destroyed, he said.
He said the cause of the fire and the estimated losses are under investigation.
