A catastrophic fire in Kampung Lok Buta, Numbak on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu early this morning claimed the lives of three children and destroyed over 200 homes in one of Sabah's deadliest recent incidents. The victims were identified as Nana Abdullah, aged four; her brother Mohd Asrul Abdullah, six; and their cousin Nurfarahdilah Mohd Tajihah, eight. The tragedy was compounded by the family's realisation, only after reaching safety, that the children had never made it out of the house.
M Nasir Jalani, 68, the children's grandfather and owner of the burning property, described the horrifying sequence of events that unfolded when he awoke to screams alerting him that a neighbour's house had caught fire. Believing his own home was beyond salvation, he evacuated immediately. In desperation, he re-entered the structure searching for the children, but found no trace of them inside. The subsequent realisation that they had been trapped within proved unbearable. "If I knew they were in the room, perhaps I could have saved them," M Nasir told reporters at the scene, his voice heavy with anguish and recrimination.
The three children had been staying with their grandfather for only a few days, having been invited to celebrate the wedding of one of his children. What was meant to be a joyful family gathering transformed into unimaginable loss. The family did not realise the children were missing until after they had evacuated to what they believed was safety, suggesting the speed and intensity of the fire left no opportunity for a thorough headcount during the initial chaos.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah and Sarawak) Datuk Mustapha Sakmud, who also serves as the Sepanggar Member of Parliament, was present at the scene to assess the disaster. The ministerial visit underscores the scale of the incident and the government's immediate response to what has become a significant tragedy affecting one of Kota Kinabalu's residential communities.
Nearby resident Roslani Ladin, 65, a fisherman, managed to orchestrate the evacuation of more than ten family members by utilising a boat to ferry them to the safety of a relative's home situated at some distance from the burning settlement. Recognising that the flames had not yet reached his own dwelling when the fire first began its destructive march through the kampung, Roslani made multiple trips to transport his family to safety. However, his house eventually fell victim to the conflagration, joining the hundreds of other structures consumed by the blaze.
For Roslani and many other residents of Kampung Lok Buta, the fire represents an unprecedented calamity in their community's history. Despite having lived in the settlement for over two decades, residents recall smaller incidents in the past but nothing approaching the scale of destruction witnessed this morning. "We have lived here for over 20 years. There had been fires before but not here. This is the first time it has happened in Kampung Lok Buta," Roslani reflected, now temporarily sheltering at one of his children's homes alongside his evacuated family members.
The massive destruction of over 200 homes within a compressed timeframe suggests either accelerated fire spread conditions, inadequate water supply for firefighting efforts, or the prevalence of highly flammable construction materials common in informal settlements. The loss of housing on such a scale will create immediate humanitarian challenges requiring coordinated relief efforts, temporary shelter provision, and long-term reconstruction support for affected residents.
The incident raises critical questions about fire safety protocols and early warning systems in densely populated kampung communities, where homes are often built in close proximity using wood and other combustible materials. Malaysia's experience with major fires in informal settlements has previously demonstrated vulnerabilities in both prevention and emergency response capabilities. The deaths of three young children amplifies the human cost of these systemic gaps.
For families in Kampung Lok Buta, particularly those who lost loved ones, the morning's events represent not merely property loss but permanent, devastating personal tragedy. The case of the three children serves as a stark reminder of how rapidly domestic fires can become lethal incidents, especially when occupants are unaware of danger or trapped by spreading flames and smoke. The grandfather's haunting reflection—that knowledge of the children's location might have enabled their rescue—encapsulates the tragic arbitrariness of such disasters.
