23 die in school dorm as blaze blocks victims from exit

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A fire that blocked the only exit to an Islamic school dormitory killed 23 people, mostly teenagers, on the outskirts of Malaysia’s largest city Thursday, officials said.

A government official said a wall separating the victims from a second exit “shouldn’t have been there.”

Firefighters and witnesses described scenes of horror: first of boys screaming for help behind barred windows as neighbors watched helplessly, and later of burned bodies huddled in corners of the room. Islamic teacher Arif Mawardy said he woke up to what he thought was a thunderstorm, only to realize it was the sound of people screaming.

Firefighters rushed to the scene after receiving a distress call at 5:41 a.m.andtookanhourtoputoutthe blaze, which started on the top floor of the three-story building, Kuala Lumpur police chief Amar Singh said.

Singh said 23 charred bodies were recovered: 21 boys between the ages of 13 and 17 and two teachers.

“We believe (they died of ) suffocation. … The bodies were totally burnt,” he said. Singh said 14 other students and four teachers were rescued.

Health Minister S. Subramaniam saidsixotherstudentsandaresident who went to help were hospitalized, with four of them in critical condition. He said the 23 bodies were in the Forensics Department waiting to be identified through DNA.

Fire department senior official Abu Obaidat Mohamad Saithalimat said the cause was thought to be an electrical short-circuit, but Singh said the investigation was continuing.

“The wall shouldn’t have been there,” Noh Omar, Malaysia’s minister for urban well-being, housing and local government, said of a wall blocking the second exit.