Cries of 'save me' as man dies in fire

An elderly man who perished in a fire was heard by neighbours shouting "save me, save me" from his smoke-engulfed bedroom but his amputated leg prevented him from escaping.

As the fire took hold in another room of Salvu Montebello's home in Paola late on Sunday night, his wife Carmen stumbled from her sleep and managed to make her way out. But her husband, alas, was unable to follow.

Neighbours recounted chillingly how, just after 11 p.m., they joined forces to try and save Mr Montebello, 72, but their efforts were in vain as the fire raged.

He was later taken out of the burning building by personnel from the Civil Protection Department and died at Mater Dei Hospital in the early hours of yesterday morning.

"During the fire we shouted out to him from the yard and we could hear him call back 'save me, save me' from his bedroom. But, after a while, the cries stopped," said Mr Montebello's brother, Joe, who lives next door.

He said he had just parked the car outside his house when he noticed smoke rising from a ventilator of his brother's house. Then he saw his sister-in-law walk out of the burning building.

Joe Montebello then asked his wife, Eileen, to run and call the fire engine and it arrived about 20 minutes later. In the meantime, he joined neighbours in their rescue attempts.

But no one managed to make it to the bedroom as they were pushed back out of the house by the thick, black smoke and the infernal heat.

"It was a horrible way for him to die. I don't wish such a death on anyone," he said as he thought back to his brother who had a love for cinematography, which he had inherited from their father.

"Salvu loved movies and had a passion for Frank Sinatra. In fact, he collected old film reels," his brother said adding that, when his brother was young, he had worked as a projectionist.

He said it seemed that the fire broke out in a box room, situated at the front part of the house, where his brother also stored some of his films and cinema memorabilia.

At the time of the fire the couple, who had been married for more than 40 years, were asleep in the back part of the house that overlooked the yards.

Alfred Spiteri, who lives across the road from Mr Montebello, said he was having a cigarette at his window when he saw the smoke. He too tried to get into the house to save Mr Montebello.

"I grabbed a torch and tried to get in but the heat was unbearable. I managed to make my way up the stairs but could not go beyond the landing," he said.

Mr Montebello's other neighbours, Joseph and Annie Attard, had just returned home from watching the Brazil-USA football match when they smelt what they thought was burning chemicals.

Mr Attard and his son Omar tried saving Mr Montebello but they too failed to get through even though one of them had a gas mask.

"It was incredibly hot and you could not see anything through the thick smoke," Mr Attard said.

In fact, he added, when the fire engine arrived it took CPD officers about 15 minutes to get him out. Two of the rescuers needed medical attention after inhaling toxic smoke.

Rescuers eventually managed to pull Mr Montebello out alive but he died in hospital at about 1 a.m., the police said.

Another neighbour, Rowena Borg Myatt, explained how, while her elderly neighbour was still trapped in his house, she had tried to keep him focused by shouting out to him from her back yard.

"At first I heard him reply... but then he stopped," she said in a disappointed voice.

Meanwhile, her mother, Catherine, took Mrs Montebello, 68, into her house and made her a cup of tea.

"She saw her husband being carried out of the building... She was agitated and didn't really know what had hit her. She didn't know what happened and why the fire broke out," Ms Borg Myatt said.

The police said the fire appeared to have been accidental but the exact cause has not yet been determined. Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani is holding an inquiry.