'He was too young. They were all too young’
Even before the tears could dry after 21 young students and two teachers died in a tragic fire at the top floor of a three-storey religious school, questions abound over how the fire started. Electrical fault has been ruled out and gas canisters found at
KUALA LUMPUR: Trapped behind fixed metal grilles, and with no access to any escape route, 21 students – three of them siblings – and two teachers of a tahfiz died in an early morning blaze that swept through the top floor of the three-storey building.
Witnesses, who could only stand helplessly by as the fire raged, told of children screaming for help from behind the fixed grilles as the flames rose from their backs.
“I could hear the students shouting for help. It was frustrating that I could not help them,” said 69-yearold Hazen, one of the first on the scene.
“I even tried to break open the back door but I could not,” said Hazen, who also heard three explosions coming from the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz.
“After the third explosion, the cries of the students were no more,” he said.
It is believed many died of smoke suffocation and collapsed before being engulfed by the flames.
Hawker Nurhayati Abdul Halim could not get the screams for help and the hands reaching out from behind the grilles out of her mind.
“They were shouting... I could see their hands... but there was nothing I could do. I watched them... I watched them...(die),” the 46-yearold said, bursting into tears.
Nurhayati said she and the other neighbours tried going up but the door could not be opened as it was locked.
“I could only scream as their cries for help faded every second. I just can’t believe that they’re no longer here,” she said outside her house which is directly opposite the tahfiz. She sells pisang goreng in front of her house daily.
“I see all of them every day when they come over to buy pisang goreng. Sometimes they would just come over to chat with me. I really can’t accept this,” said a devastated Nurhayati.
City police chief Comm Datuk Amar Singh said they found charred remains of the victims piled on top of one another in the room.
“The fire is believed to have started right outside the room door, preventing any chance of escape.
“The only way out was through the windows but these had grilles on them,” he said.
Shahirman Shahril, a 39-year-old contractor who lives nearby, was in shock too.
“After calling the fire department, I ran out and joined the other neighbours in putting out the fire. It spread so quickly. I saw the children calling for help from behind the grilles. What could we do? We couldn’t throw a rope to them. The only thing we could do was to plead for them to jump out so we could catch them,” said Shahirman.
“I have children around their age so this is heartbreaking,” he said.
Some of the children and teachers managed to break open the grille in their room and clambered down the pipes or just jumped to the ground. Many suffered burns and injuries from their falls.
Comm Amar said 12 students and two other teachers managed to escape the fire and suffered various multiple injuries.
“The victims have been sent to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for treatment,” he said.
“We can rule out foul play based on our investigations so far,” he told reporters at the scene.
Comm Amar said the absence of hinged grilles on the second floor was also one of the reasons why so many died.
Fire and Rescue Department deputy director-general (operation) Datuk Soiman Jahid said the charred bodies of 21 students and two teachers were found in two corner sections of the top floor near the windows.
He said the cause of the fire could have been due to mosquito repellent or an electrical fault.
However, the presence of several gas canisters on the top floor of the building has also raised questions. Survivors told of a hissing sound as the fire blazed. The kitchen of the tahfiz is on the ground floor.
“We will know more on that in about two to three days. Our men are combing the area to see if we missed the remains of any other victims,” said Soiman.
“Based on our initial investigations the position of the charred remains show that the victims tried to escape through the windows but could not break down the fixed grilles on the windows,” he said, adding that hinged grilles could have saved lives.