MUAR: A father's heart broke as he collected his child's remains from the forensic unit at the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital (HPSF), finding his child's face shattered and bearing injuries from a blunt object.
Nor Hasyim Tahir, 43, is the father of the late Noradriana, 11, who perished in a fire that also claimed the lives of his in-laws early yesterday morning.
He described his child's face as being severely damaged but was unsure of the cause.
"I can say that my child's face was crushed due to blunt force trauma. I don't know the exact cause.
"According to the doctor, the effects of the fire were not severe, and the death was not caused by the fire but by a strong blow to the head.
"This is what saddened me when I viewed her remains yesterday afternoon," he said after her burial at the Kampung Paya Redan Islamic cemetery, in Pagoh, today.
In the 1.30am incident yesterday, his in-laws, Mohamed Nor Mohamed Yasin, 82, and his wife Ara Abdul Hamid, 76, also died in the fire, which destroyed about 85 per cent of their semi-wooden house.
Another grandchild, Norazima Mohd Radhi, 14, sustained injuries and was receiving treatment at HPSF.
Muar police chief Assistant Commissioner Raiz Mukhliz Azman Aziz said the elderly couple's son Azman Mohamed, 48, was being sought to assist in the investigation.
Raiz said Azman was living with the victims at the house that was engulfed by flames in the pre-dawn blaze.
Meanwhile, Ghazali Abd Rahman, 53, a neighbour, recalled hearing an explosion on the day of the incident and initially thought some residents were setting off firecrackers.
He said when he went outside, he saw a teenager running in the middle of the road and asked his wife, Rozana Abdullah, 48, to check on the situation.
"Norazima immediately embraced my wife, covered in blood. At the same time, one of my children saw Azman riding a motorcycle behind Norazima.
"However, he did not stop his motorcycle but continued on his way, as another motorcycle happened to be passing by the scene," he said.
He added that his child immediately contacted the police to get help, as Norazima appeared to be traumatised and frightened.