PETALING JAYA: The woman who died in a first-floor apartment fire in Taman Paramount, Petaling Jaya, yesterday (Aug 5) had difficulty walking.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Shahrulnizam Ja'afar said the 62-year-old victim had broken her leg two years ago and could only walk slowly with a walking aid.
"Based on investigations by the Fire and Rescue Department forensic team, the fire is suspected to have been started by hand-rolled cigarette butts," he said in a statement today (Aug 6).
Shahrulnizam added that many hand-rolled cigarette (rokok daun) butts were found around the victim's bed.
"No foul play has been found, and the case has been classified as sudden death. The victim's body has been sent to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre for a post-mortem," he said.
It was reported yesterday that an elderly woman died in a first-floor apartment fire at Taman Paramount.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department received a distress call at 5.42pm.
A team of 10 firemen from the Damansara fire station, led by Operations Commander Mohamad Munir Shuib, arrived at the scene minutes later.
The firemen doused the blaze inside the apartment and found the deceased partially burnt under a smouldering mattress.
There were no other casualties in the fire, and the woman's remains, 60 per cent of which were burnt, were sent to Universiti Malaya Medical Centre for post-mortem.
The fire did not affect the structure of the building.
Those with information on the case should contact Inspector Safuan Alias at 011-1025 5125 or 03-7722 2222.