BUKIT MERTAJAM, MALAYSIA: A 37-year-old newspaper vendor died when he was trapped in his house in Per-kampungan Berapit here during a pre-dawn fire.

Chuah Chee Seong was alone in his double-storey semi-wooden house in Jalan Haji Sulaiman when the fire broke out at around 4.45am yesterday.

His father, Kim Chuan, 73, also a newspaper vendor, said he last saw his son asleep on the first floor of the house before leaving for work.

Chee Seong's wife and two daughters, Yin Sze, seven, and Cheah Sze, four, were away at her parents' place in Serdang, Kulim.

Kim Chuan said firemen told him that his son's body was found under the staircase on the ground floor.

"A passerby said he heard my son's screams but nobody could do anything as the fire was quite big," he said.

Kim Chuan said Chee Seong also worked part-time as a mosaic layer.

"He was a kind and responsible son," he said.

Chee Seong's wife Ooi Bee Teng, 31, was too distraught to talk to anyone when she arrived at the scene.

Bukit Mertajam fire station chief Sakumoning Ismail said Chee Seong could have suffocated in the thick smoke.

"We received a call at 5.05am and 11 firemen arrived at the scene in three minutes," he said.

"We took about 15 minutes to control the fire and prevented it from spreading to the neighbouring homes," he said, adding that Chee Seong's body was found at 5.55am.

Sakumoning said the cause of the fire was being investigated.