The body of the 44-year-old woman with burn marks on her face and head was found by firemen after they put out the blaze at two premises housing a karaoke centre on the ground floor and lodgings on the upper floor.

Jalan Perak fire and rescue station chief A’azelan Hassan said they received an emergency call on the incident at 3.34pm and the first fire engine arrived at the scene about seven minutes later.

“Firefighters had difficulty going upstairs as there was only one staircase and it was filled with thick smoke and the flames were raging, but we managed to control the fire within 10 minutes to stop it from spreading to other shophouses,” he said, adding that the fire was completely extinguished at 4.20pm.

A’azelan said firefighters found the body of the woman on a bed in an upstairs room near the stairs. The victim was believed to be disabled as there was a wheelchair and a walking stick near her bed.

He said the cause of the fire and the amount of losses were still under investigation.

According to him, a total of 50 firemen from three stations as well as a volunteer fire brigade unit were involved in the operation.