Stor Mercun Meletup Kg Sbrg Baruh KTrg.wmv

Boy dies as contraband blows up house
By SAZALI NOOR
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA TERENGGANU: A six-year-old kindergarten pupil was killed and two others seriously injured when firecrackers and fireworks being stored in an abandoned semi-wooden house exploded.

The force of the blast threw Khairul Arif Ayob about 15m into the air. His body was found entangled on a tree top.

Villagers in Kampung Seberang Baruh in Ca­­bang Tiga, some 5km from here, described the explosion as something like a "bomb blast."

The impact of the blast also damaged three nearby houses. The fireworks were being stored for the coming Hari Raya celebration.

Khairul, a pupil of a government-run kindergarten in Kampung Losong Atap Zin, was playing outside the abandoned house when the blast occurred at about 12.30pm.
House of death: A policeman taking away the remaining fireworks from the house damaged by a blast that killed six-year-old Khairul (inset) at Kampung Seberang Baruh in Kuala Terengganu yesterday. — ZABIDI TUSIN / The Star

The injured were two adults — aged 22 and 23 — who have yet to be identified. They are being treated at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital intensive care unit here.

Witness Nor Shafli Azhar, 36, said Khairul's head was badly injured in the explosion. He said villagers helped to bring him down from the tree and rushed him to hospital.

Nor Shafli said he was resting in his house not far from the scene when he heard a thunderous sound that also shook his home.

He said saw thick smoke billowing from the house .

"When I got there, the house was a wreck with a wall completely blown off while the verandah had collapsed. Two men lay sprawled outside with serious injuries," said businessman Nor Shafli.

He said one of the men was unconscious while the other, who was lying under broken planks, told him about Khairul and asked him to look for the boy.

Neighbour Hasnah Abdul Jalil, 50, said she saw several men transporting boxes and storing them at the abandoned house over the past few days.

"I was not aware that they were storing fireworks but luckily my family was away at the time of the blast,'' she added.

Khairul's aunty Rozita Abdul Rahman, 35, said she was puzzled as to why the boy followed one of their family friends to the site.

She said the victim's father Ayob Abd Rahman, 28, and mother Kamariah Hassan, 25, had gone to the city to buy Hari Raya clothes for Khairul.

"Khairul was not feeling well for a few days and his parents left him with me and wanted to surprise him with new clothes for Hari Raya,'' she added in between sobs.

State police chief Senior Asst Comm 1 Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan said police had set up a team to probe the incident, and question those involved in the trade of the fireworks.

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