Yesterday, the Federal Territory Gerakan Youth secretary’s world came crashing down when he heard the news that his wife Annie Ong Yen Lee and daughter Artina Loke Xin Yu had died in a fire at their home here.
All gone: Loke (second from left) at the scene of the tragedy. The fire was believed to have started in the kitchen and raged through the house.Bitter loss: Annie and Artina who died in the fire that engulfed their home in Taman Sri Sinar, Kepong.
Loke had been in Malacca with his colleagues to support the Barisan Nasional campaign in the Merlimau by-election.
When he heard of the tragedy, the first thing he remembered was holding his wife and daughter and giving them what was now their last kiss.
Ong, 33, and Xin Yu were in the bedroom when the fire, believed to have started in the kitchen, raged through their single-storey house in Taman Sri Sinar in Kepong early yesterday.
The mother and child were found dead after firemen, who rushed to the scene at 6.11am, put out the fire. The victims were believed to have suffocated from the smoke.
Fighting back tears, Loke, 36, said he immediately rushed home after receiving a call from a neighbour about the fire.
“I kissed them goodbye on Friday morning before going to work,” he said.
“Due to the nature of my job, I am away from home a lot.
“But Annie never complained. She always understood.
“Now, I have lost everything. Artina was only a week away from her second birthday,” he sobbed.
A neighbour, A. Arindran, 34, said a loud explosion woke him up at around 5.45am and he ran out of his house to see the Lokes’ home on fire.
“I heard Annie yelling for help from her bedroom window. I could see that she was trapped.
“I tried to put out the flames with a garden hose but the fire spread quickly,” Arindran said.
A Federal Territory Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said they received a distress call at around 6.11am.
“However, we could not pass the barrier at the unmanned security checkpoint of the residential area.
“Precious minutes were lost as we had to cut off the chains to proceed to the burning house,” he said, adding that by the time the firemen reached the place, about 80% of the house was burnt and the roof had collapsed.
The bodies of the victims have been sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a post-mortem.
