Victims found hugging each other
Three killed in KL Buddhist temple blaze
As they searched through the rubble of a burnt Buddhist temple, firefighters were saddened to find three people they couldn't save.
Heartbreakingly, two of the victims were found locked in an embrace.
The three women, aged 60 to 65, were two nuns and a student at the 70-year-old temple in Kampung Baru Air Panas in Kuala Lumpur.
It was razed to the ground in an early morning fire on Saturday.
The victims were identified as Ms Sim Chor Yee, Ms Chan Mei Yong and Ms Chan Yee Mei.
"They were sleeping in a room inside the Mioa You temple when the fire broke out at about 3am," the KL Fire and Rescue Department told Malaysia's The Star.
Wangsa Maju OCPD Superintendent Mohamad Roy Suhaimi Sarif said six others inside the temple managed to escape but the women were trapped.
"Firemen took nearly two hours to quell the blaze," said KL Fire and Rescue operations chief Azizan Ismail.
"After that, we performed an overhaul operation in the rubble and discovered the three bodies.
"We believe they were trapped inside and were burnt to death."
Rescuers found the three bodies in a bathroom.
One was found near a bathtub, while the others were close by and locked in an embrace.
The bodies were taken to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a post-mortem.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
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