A mother's timely reaction today saved her and her children's lives after their house was filled with thick smoke, in an incident at Taman Puchong Prima near here today.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis who described it as a near-death incident said it occurred at 8.15 am today when 31-year-old Kartina Abd Razak was cooking at her double-storey terrace house.

"It is believed that she had left the kitchen midway through her cooking to tend to her two children, leaving the stove unattended and after some time, the kitchen and hall were filled with thick smoke," he told Bernama.

Realising what was happening, the woman quickly moved her children to the first floor balcony and called the Fire Department to report the incident.

”Kartina did the right thing. If she had made her way downstairs with her children through the thick fog, she would have risked her and her children's lives," Norazam said adding that it would only take several minutes for a person to pass out in thick smoke and eventually die.

He added that apart from the soot-filled kitchen, there was no further damage.

-- BERNAMA