Najib, wife visit school blaze survivors
KUALA LUMPUR: Four survivors of the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah religious school blaze were visited by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, yesterday.
The four are currently at two separate intensive care units (ICU) at Kuala Lumpur Hospital here.
Three of them, aged 11,12 and 15, are being treated at the hospital’s burns ICU, while an 11year-old had been placed at the paediatric ICU.
Two of them are in critical condition and on ventilation due to excessive smoke in their lungs, while the other two have recovered and are able to speak.
Najib said he was confident that all four survivors would recover from their injuries as they were in good hands.
“I found that they are under good supervision and the doctors at the hospital had and are still doing their best.
“According to the prognosis, they have a good chance of recovering.
“However, it will be a slow process. We pray that they will be able to recover from what they had gone through. The experts here are capable of doing what is needed,” Najib said at the lobby of the hospital’s paediatric unit.
Present were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, Jakim director-general Tan Sri Othman Mustapha and Kuala Lumpur Hospital director Datuk Dr Zaininah Mohd Zain.
Earlier, Zaininah said the three in the burns ICU had 20 per cent burns on their bodies.
“It may take a week for them to recover and no visitors are allowed to avoid infection.
“Another three boys who were allowed to leave the hospital, however, will still be required to undergo follow-up treatments,” she said.
Zaininah added that the boy at the paediatric ICU was still traumatised by the incident and was being closely monitored.
Later, at a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre, Najib said Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V was very concerned about the fire tragedy.
“On Friday night, I visited the fire site with His Majesty... and I want to say that he was very concerned about the tragedy at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah school,” he told a special press conference at the Umno headquarters here.
A total of 21 students and two wardens-cum-teachers died in the fire, which broke out at 5.15am on Thursday.