A victim, 17-year-old Tan Jia Shin said she was with her heavily pregnant mother, father and two siblings at home when they felt a strong tremor at about 8am.
“We quickly rushed out and saw the fire raging and our home was just two lanes away from the site of the incident.
“At that time, our only thoughts were on our pregnant mother’s safety. We all rushed out of the house without taking anything, not even the car, as we got some help from firefighters,” she told Bernama.
Another victim, 42-year-old Lee Weng Ken, who suffered burns to his left leg, said he was shocked when the ceiling of his house collapsed and crushed his vehicle parked in the compound of the house at about 8.10am.
“I rushed out of my house but fell and suffered burns due to the heat from the blaze near my house,” he said.
Meanwhile, another victim who only wanted to be known as Andy, 52, said his house was located about 100m from the site of the inferno.
He added that he and his children ran out when they felt the tremors and saw the raging fire.
“I could only take the car out. My 18-year-old daughter injured her foot when she fell while climbing the fence due to the heat.
“Everything around the house started melting (because the flames were so hot), making it difficult for us to get out of the house,” he said.
Another victim, Aidil Ghafar, said he felt the tremor at 8.20am.
“When I opened the door, I smelt gas and felt the heat of the fire,” he said, adding that his house was located about 200m from the scene of the fire.
Aidil, a former journalist with a television network, claimed that over the past two days, there had been digging work carried out at a location near his house, including an area believed to be where the gas pipeline was located.
“I believe that the digging work could be one of the reasons for the fire,” he said, adding that he has been staying at Jalan Putra Harmoni 1/3 for the past 10 years.
A Bernama survey found that victims who suffered minor injuries were placed at the Sri Maha Kaliamman temple in Subang Jaya to receive treatment by health ministry personnel.
As of 11am, 30 people have received early treatment while some have been sent to hospitals in Serdang, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya for further treatment.