“We had to jump”: Family recalls harrowing gas explosion escape

SHAH ALAM – A gas pipeline explosion in Putra Heights on the second day of Hari Raya turned celebration into chaos for a young family, leaving them with trauma, injuries and the loss of their home.

Among the victims was a five-month pregnant woman who was forced to jump from a nearly two-metre-high ledge to escape the fire.

The impact caused complications with her pregnancy, and doctors have since confirmed that surgery is required to ensure the safety of both mother and unborn child.

“She was only five months pregnant. The doctor said surgery was needed to make sure everything is safe,” said the victim’s sister-in-law, Nur Izzati Alia Zainuddin, 28.

Izzati and her husband, Muhammad Amirul Azhar Mohd Yasin, 28, were at their family home in Kampung Sungai Baru when the explosion happened just after 8am on April 1.

It was part of a series of blasts involving an underground gas pipeline in the densely populated Putra Heights area, Subang Jaya, Selangor.

The massive explosion created a fireball with flames soaring up to 30 metres and temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius.

At first, the family thought it was an earthquake or a low-flying aircraft—until their home was suddenly engulfed in flames.

“In that moment of panic, we all had to jump to save ourselves. My sister-in-law, who was pregnant, had no choice but to jump too,” Izzati said during the Borak Bibir Merah podcast with SinarPlus yesterday.

The physical toll was compounded by the emotional scars. Her sister-in-law’s four-year-old daughter has been so traumatised that she now refuses to walk on the floor, terrified by the memory of the heat from the fire.

“She doesn’t want to come down or step on the floor. Maybe she’s scared or traumatised by the heat during the incident,” she said.

The explosion destroyed the family’s home—a house their parents built using their father’s pension and years of hard-earned savings.

“That house wasn’t just a building. It was my parents’ dream. They raised us there. Everything disappeared in the blink of an eye,” she said.

Despite the pain, Izzati tries to hold onto her mother’s words: “Be grateful, because we still have each other.”

In the aftermath, the family has been forced to separate temporarily. Izzati and her husband are staying with her in-laws, while her parents and siblings have moved into her brother’s home.

“Alhamdulillah, many people have come forward to help us—family, neighbours, relatives, even colleagues from Karangkraf,” she added.

As they continue to piece their lives back together, the couple remains strong, hoping that with time, healing will come.