Melaka fire and rescue department assistant director (operations) Shahrom Laji said the victim was found dead in one of the three rooms in the flat, located on the sixth floor of the PPR.

“We received a call at about 2.39pm. We sent 17 personnel and two fire engines from the Ayer Keroh and Cheng fire and rescue stations,” Shahrom said, Bernama reported.

The child was the fourth of five siblings.

Shahrom said the victim’s mother and siblings were in the house but managed to escape when the fire occurred at about 2.20pm.

He said they had yet to establish the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, senior state executive councillor Rais Yasin, who is also the state assemblyman for Paya Rumput, said the state government would offer temporary housing to the victim’s family and assist in the burial arrangements.