A ride through 'hell'? Kuala Lumpur LRT line passes by inferno, alarming passengers

These passengers may have wondered if their train took a wrong turn somewhere as they passed through what some could only describe as 'hell'.

Passengers aboard an LRT train in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, were horrified when their train drove past multiple houses that were set ablaze, multiple Malaysian media reported on Thursday (June 20).

The three-second video uploaded to XiaoHongShu by user Balala (transliteration) on Wednesday shows the interior of an LRT cabin as it passes by a raging inferno.

As the fire rages on just metres away from their window, a woman stands up to get a better look.

User Balala said in the post that they were going home from Pudu at 8.13pm on Tuesday night when they spotted a red glint from out the window.

As their train got closer to it, Balala realised they were looking at a fire.

"I could only watch as the fire got closer and closer to us," they said. "After a few seconds, the whole carriage was suddenly very hot.

"The passengers on the opposite side [of me] were also scared and stood up."

Balala only reacted and took a video of the blaze when the train was halfway past the row of houses that were burning brightly, they wrote in their post.

"The fire was really close to the LRT, and it was really scary, you can probably feel [the heat] just by looking at the video," they added.

Comments under Balala's video were similarly terrified by the incident.

'Express train to hell'

"I was watching the fire from nearby, but I feel that being on the train is scarier," said one user. "On the train, there's nowhere to run."

Another user on Reddit described the ride as an "express train to hell", while many others were just as scared after seeing the inferno in the video.

Fire and Rescue Department senior operations commander Logeswaran Lavan said in a Facebook post that they were alerted to the blaze at 8.04pm and mobilised 25 personnel to the scene.

"The fire involved seven squatter houses… six units were completely destroyed, while one unit was 40 per cent destroyed," he said in the post, reported the New Straits Times.

"The fire also involved a two-storey shop house. The upper floor was completely destroyed. Additionally, three cars and three motorcycles were also destroyed.

"The fire was successfully extinguished, and no casualties were reported. The cause of the fire is still under investigation."

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khooyihang@asiaone.com