<figure id="attachment_3024032" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3024032" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3024032 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/4838d659-gas-pipeline-explode-ap-photo-amir-afiq-020425.webp" alt="Gas pipeline explode" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3024032" class="wp-caption-text">Several Putra Heights residents recounted how the intense heat from the fire caused aquariums to bubble up and vehicles to melt, leaving them in shock. (AP Photo Amir Afiq)</figcaption></figure>
KUALA LUMPUR: “She wanted to give up… but her children dragged her out,” said Alex Khoo, as he recalled how his sister escaped from yesterday&#8217;s gas pipeline blaze from her home in Putra Heights.
He said his sister, Khoo Poh Lai, 72, was reluctant to flee from the house as she was experiencing severe pain.
But soon enough, she was running barefoot on the scorching road as her children dragged her along to safety.
Her house is located just 100m from the site of the explosion.
Poh Lai, who was at home with her husband and children during the incident, is now being treated in a hospital ward after suffering burns on her legs. Her husband remains in intensive care due to severe smoke inhalation.
“She&#8217;s okay. She’s walking around with bandages on her legs because she suffered burns after running on the hot road,” Alex, 82, told reporters when met at the Sultan Idris Shah Hospital in Serdang today.
<figure id="attachment_3024088" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3024088" style="width: 200px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3024088" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/c3ec0d1a-alex-khoo-ms-020425.webp" alt="Alex Khoo" width="200" height="200" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3024088" class="wp-caption-text">Alex Khoo.</figcaption></figure>
Alex, who lives in Petaling Jaya, said his sister and her family did not have the chance to save anything as the fire engulfed their home, cars and all their belongings.
He welcomed the government&#8217;s decision to provide immediate financial aid to the victims, as announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim yesterday, saying it was essential to help those who had lost everything.
“I think that’s good as that’s what they need. Because they lost their house &#8230; they lost everything.
“The fire spread so fast,” he said, also voicing concerns over safety regulations governing the proximity of residential areas to gas pipelines.
Aquariums bubble up, vehicles melt
Other residents recounted how the intense heat from the fire caused aquariums to bubble up and vehicles to melt, leaving them in shock.
Some panicked residents had no time to decide where to flee in that split second and could only seek shelter at a nearby riverbank.
Siti Fauziah Hasnan, 32, said her neighbourhood at that time was relatively empty, as many had returned to their hometowns for Aidilfitri.
“At first, I was in shock, but we managed to escape after some individuals guided us along alternative routes to avoid the heat.
“Many people, including myself, sustained burns on our feet as our slippers softened due to the extreme temperature,” she said.
Delivery rider Jasni Abdul Manap, 47, was devastated as his newly purchased Yamaha Y15ZR motorcycle was destroyed in the fire. He has yet to make his first loan repayment.
Jasni, his wife and their two daughters were on their way home from Kuala Kangsar, Perak, when a friend informed him that a fire had destroyed his house.
“I initially thought the fire had broken out at a nearby petrol station, but it turned out the gas pipeline that exploded was right behind my house.
&#8220;Three motorcycles, household items and even my child’s laptop, which was only bought two months ago, were destroyed in the blaze,” he said.
Food trader Faizal Zakaria, 56, recalled how a table at his business premises melted, after a boy used it as a shield against the heat while searching for his mother during the chaos.
“The child suffered burns on his back. Yet, he still rushed out to find his mother at a house, not far from my shop,” he said.

MatchPoint Times

Elderly woman who wanted to give up makes barefoot escape from blaze

Khoo Poh Lai suffered burns and saved herself after running barefoot on the scorching road from her home, just 100m from the blast site.

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