The second day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri will be permanently imprinted in the memory of 33-year-old Sharmaine Pan, who experienced the trauma of being a victim of the gas pipeline fire that erupted at Jalan Putra Harmoni, Putra Heights, Subang Jaya, Selangor. Sharmaine, who suffered seven per cent first-degree burns on both her calves and abrasions from falling while running away from the fire, described hearing an unusual sound reminiscent of a tremor before chaos ensued. “We were sleeping when we heard a strange sound. We opened the window to see what had happened, and the windows were rattling, and then we saw a massive fire raging nearby. We went downstairs, but something didn’t feel right. So, we decided to get out and just ran for our lives,” she told Bernama when met at the Putrajaya Hospital after receiving treatment.
Interior designer Robin Yeoh Jin Ghee, aged 46, recounted a similar tale of horror, explaining that he and his wife were at home resting when the incident began. “Suddenly, around 8 am, the whole house started shaking, like we’ve been hit by an earthquake. We didn’t know it was an explosion. Then, I woke my wife up, and we both went downstairs without taking anything. We went to the dining hall and hid under the table. The whole house was still shaking. When we tried to go out, we opened the gate and saw a lot of debris falling. We didn’t know what it was – it looked like a meteor or something,” he said when met at the hospital.
He added that as they attempted to escape, various objects started falling from above, and the exterior of the house appeared as if it had been struck by a tornado. Finding it too dangerous to remain outside, they retreated inside and sought refuge in the study room. The situation became increasingly tense when part of the rear portion of their house collapsed, and the blazing inferno was visible. Water flowed into their home due to a burst pipe, prompting them to use damp cloths to prevent smoke from entering the room. “We tried to block the smoke from coming in under the door. It went on for quite a while, more than an hour, and things weren’t getting any better. I tried to go peek outside. The rooftop of our backyard storeroom caught fire. I tried to go up to my room to get my phone and some other things, but I couldn’t. I tried three times (to go up), but it was too risky,” he said, noting that the upper part of their house was destroyed while the ground floor was also severely damaged.
Meanwhile, what was intended to be a quiet public holiday morning jog took a dramatic turn for a 70-year-old man when he was startled by an immense fire at Jalan Putra Harmoni. Harban Singh, a resident of USJ 9, Subang Jaya, mentioned he was jogging on the second day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri at approximately 8.25 am when the inferno drew his attention. “I asked my relative, who was next to me, and we initially thought it might be a house fire. But it turned out to be a giant blaze. Then I went to the location and found out that it was a fire involving the Petronas gas pipeline,” he said when met at the scene.
