SUBANG JAYA: Grief, gratitude and quiet resilience filled the air at the Subang Jaya fire station yesterday as residents affected by the Putra Heights gas pipeline explosion met in person with the firefighters who risked their lives to save them.

Among them was Aziah Puteh Azib, 55, a government secretary who still carries the trauma of that terrifying day. “I didn’t realise my home was on fire. When others had already evacuated, I was still inside.

“But even now, the experience lingers. Even going to work, I still feel anxious. I contacted Talian Kasih and spoke to someone for nearly an hour. “That helped,” she said, her voice trembling as she acknowledged the mental toll it had taken.

Another resident, Raja Shyra Raja Haris, 56, shared a similarly harrowing escape. “It was just me and my husband at home. My children live in other states. We saw the sky turn orange from the window. The heat was intense,” she said.

“We ran through some bushes and (kept moving) until we reached a roadside,” she said. Despite suffering burns, her focus was on survival.

Now living in a condominium in Kelana Jaya, Raja Shyra has stored what little she could salvage in a rented warehouse. “Some things were saved, but a lot was lost. Even my phone.”

Both women brought photographs of what remained of their homes – blackened ruins and ashes that stand as silent testaments to their loss. Among those listening intently was firefighter Ananias Makim, 37, from Sabah.

Although not on duty during the blaze on April 1, he was deployed the next day as part of the standby crew. “The fire had already been put out but the heat was still present. Some houses were still smouldering,” he said.

Ananias recounted the intensity of the disaster, adding that one firefighter suffered burns during a rescue operation. “The temperature measured up to 1,000°C, even from 200m away.”

He said the flames could only be fully extinguished after a Petronas contractor shut off the gas pipeline. “We couldn’t put it out ourselves until that was done.”

Reflecting on the aftermath, Ananias said: “Most had lost their homes entirely and even those partially damaged were unsalvageable. If I could say something to the residents, I’d wish them a speedy recovery. Please stay strong, brighter days will come. I only wish I could do more.”

Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department senior fire officer Ismail Yusof said firefighters are often seen as heroes. But behind the uniform, they are ordinary individuals doing their best. “We are ordinary people with a job to do,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of safety awareness and early preparedness in emergency situations. “When you dial for help, time matters. But having an emergency plan in place beforehand can save lives.”

KUALA LUMPUR, 12 Mei- Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (METMalaysia) mengesahkan tiada ancaman tsunami kepada Malaysia susulan gempa bumi sederhana yang berlaku di Xizang awal pagi ini.

Gempa berukuran 5.4 magnitud itu direkodkan pada pukul 5.11 pagi dan berpusat di koordinat 28.9 darjah utara serta 87.6 darjah timur dengan kedalaman 10 kilometer.

MetMalaysia memaklumkan lokasi kejadian terletak kira-kira 384 kilometer di utara Dinajpur, Bangladesh.

Orang ramai dinasihatkan merujuk maklumat rasmi melalui laman web METMalaysia atau aplikasi mudah alih myCuaca bagi sebarang perkembangan terkini.

GEORGE TOWN — Tremors from a moderate earthquake that struck North Sumatra, Indonesia today were also felt by residents living in Penang, especially in areas near the sea.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director Mohamad Shoki Hamzah said his department had received two reports of tremors believed to be a result of the earthquake that occurred in the neighbouring country.

“So far, the fire department has received two phone calls from members of the public in a residential area in Block 1, Taman Selatan in Jelutong and a hotel in George Town at 5.15 pm this evening reporting tremors in their residential area.

“The fire department was sent to the location to conduct further inspections and the operations commander reported that the locations were safe and there were no structural damages to the buildings involved,” he said when contacted by Bernama, today.

He said the fire department was also monitoring from time to time to ensure that no premises or buildings were affected by the tremors caused by the earthquake.

Meanwhile, a resident of Apartment Desa Baiduri in Farlim, here, Fatin Syafiqah Ahmad Rozi, 32, said she and her family who live on the 10th floor also felt the tremors for several minutes but thought she had a headache.

However, she said the tremors were also felt by other family members before her neighbour who also felt the same incident came to her house to ask if there was anything wrong like tremors or there was a construction project in their residential area.

“The tremors were felt twice but only for a few minutes, we didn’t know yet that there was an earthquake in Indonesia and the neighbours had called us to go down because we were afraid something would happen, at that time we saw several other residents coming out of their houses,” she said.

A resident of an apartment in Jelutong, Nur Hafizah Mustafa, 42, said the tremors were quite strong so that she could see several items in the house moving and she immediately went into the room to see her seven-year-old son sleeping.

“Then I came out of the house and saw several neighbours asking each other what happened as everyone was worried that something would happen before they knew that there was an earthquake in Indonesia,” said Nur Hafizah who lives on the 15th floor of the apartment.

Earlier, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) in a statement announced that a moderate earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit North Sumatra, Indonesia at 4.57 pm this afternoon.

The tremors were also felt in most areas on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, but there was no tsunami threat to the country. — BERNAMA