KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A blaze at an Islamic boarding school in the Malaysian capital killed at least 23 people on Thursday, most of them teenage boys who cried for help from barred windows, officials and witnesses said.

The fire broke out at around 5.40 a.m. in a top-floor dormitory in the three-storey building, firemen said, where most of the students were sleeping in bunk beds, with many of the windows covered by metal grills. One survivor said there was just one window the boys managed to open.

Two teachers were also killed in the fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah, a 15-minute drive from the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, police said, adding that most of the victims died from smoke inhalation.

The youngest was just seven, media said.

The disaster has renewed calls for greater scrutiny of so-called “tahfiz” schools, where students learn to memorize the Quran. They are unregulated by the education ministry, being the responsibility of the religious department.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said at least 31 fires had been reported at such schools in Malaysia since 2011, adding that they must follow safety regulations.

“We will continue to carry out investigations, especially through forensics, as we found that there was some security features that should have been complied with but weren’t,” Zahid told reporters outside the school.

Fire department operations deputy director Soiman Jahid said the cause was likely a short circuit or a mosquito repellent coil.

The dormitory had only one entrance, leaving many of the victims trapped, he said.

“The building was surrounded by metal grills that could not be opened from the inside. The students, after realizing the fire and heavy smoke, tried to escape through the window,” Soiman said outside the school.

Family members wait for news of their loved ones outside religious school Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah after a fire broke out in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

“But because of the grills, they could not escape.”

Soiman said the school had submitted a request for fire safety approval but no new checks had been carried out as the request was still being processed.

“The pupils all got locked in and they couldn’t escape and got burned,” Nadia Azalan, sister of a 13-year-old victim, told Reuters in tears as distraught family members gathered outside the building. “Safety should come first.”

Mohamad Arif Mawardi, 24, who was sleeping on one of the lower floors, said he realized there was a fire only after he heard people shouting.

“We wanted to help the others but we couldn’t because the fire was rampant. There was nothing we could do,” he said.

About 13 boys managed to open a window and escape, Arif said.

“Only those 13 who had access to that open window could escape,” he said.

A man identified only as Hazin, who lived next door to the school, said his son called the fire department after they heard screams and saw the flames.

“The children were crying for help, but I couldn’t help them as the door was already on fire,” he said.

Viewed from outside, the only tell-tale signs of disaster were the blackened upper-floor windows, otherwise the tin-roofed building appeared unscathed, with a Malaysian flag hanging limply from the yellow wall.

Slideshow (15 Images)

Only inside did the intensity of the inferno become clear. The dormitory was blackened, lined with the charred frames of bunk beds.

Tahfiz schools have been under scrutiny since earlier this year when an 11-year-old boy died after reported abuse in Johor, north of Singapore.</s>A fire at an Islamic boarding school for boys killed at least 24 people, in Kuala Lumpur. (Reuters)</s>KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—A predawn fire tore through an Islamic boarding school in the Malaysian capital Thursday, killing at least 23 people, mostly students trapped in their sleeping quarters, officials said.

Initial investigations showed the small, all-boys school was operating without a fire-safety permit, though it had applied for one, fire authorities said. The school started operating three years ago. The investigation is...</s>At least 23 people have been killed in a fire at an Islamic boarding school in Kuala Lumpur.</s>(KUALA LUMPUR) — A fire that blocked the only exit to an Islamic school dormitory killed 24 people who were trapped behind barred windows, mostly teenagers, on the outskirts of Malaysia's capital early 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 as neighbors watched helplessly, and later of burned bodies huddled in a corner of the room. School employee 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. and took an hour to put out the blaze, which started on the top floor of the three-story building, Kuala Lumpur police chief Amar Singh said. He said there were at least 24 charred bodies, 22 of them boys between 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, with six of them hospitalized in critical condition.

The fire broke out near the only door to the boys' dormitory, trapping the victims since the windows were barred, fire department senior official Abu Obaidat Mohamad Saithalimat said. He said the cause was believed to be an electrical short-circuit, though Singh said the investigation was continuing.

Another fire department official, Soiman Jahid, said firefighters heard shouts for help when they arrived at the school. He said they found 13 bodies huddled in a pile on the right corner of the dorm, another eight on the left corner of the dorm and one in the middle near the staircase.

Local media showed pictures of blackened bunk bed frames in the burned dormitory. A resident, Nurhayati Abdul Halim, told local media that she saw the boys crying and screaming for help when the fire broke.

"I saw their little hands out of the grilled windows; crying for help. ... I heard their screams and cries but I could not do anything. The fire was too strong for me to do anything," she said. She added that the school had been operating in the area for the past year.

Noh Omar, Malaysia's minister for urban well-being, housing and local government, said the school's original architectural plan included an open top floor that allowed access to two exit staircases. But he said a wall was built dividing that floor, leaving only one exit for the dorm.

"The wall shouldn't have been there," he said. He added that the school submitted an application for a fire safety permit that hadn't been approved.

The Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah is a private Islamic center, known as a "tahfiz" school, for Muslim children, mainly boys, to study and memorize the Quran. Many such schools are exempt from state inspections.

The Star newspaper said there were 519 tahfiz schools registered nationwide as of April, but many more are believed to be unregistered.

The newspaper said the fire department had recorded 211 fires in such private Islamic centers since 2015. In August, 16 people fled a fire at a tahfiz school in northern Kedah state. Another tahfiz school was destroyed by a fire in May but no one was hurt.

The worst fire disaster occurred in 1989 when 27 female students at a private Islamic school in Kedah state died when fire gutted the school and eight wooden hostels.</s>At least 24 students and teachers have been killed in a fire at an Islamic boarding school in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning and took firefighters an hour to extinguish the blaze.

Local police said most of the victims were boys aged between 13 and 17 and that six others are in hospital in a critical condition.

The fire broke out near the door of the boys' dormitory, trapping the victims as it was the only entrance and the windows have metal bars over them, said officials.

It is believed the cause of the blaze was believed to be a short-circuit.

Local media showed pictures of blackened bunk beds in the burned dormitory.

A resident known as Norhayati told a local television station that she saw the boys crying and screaming for help, and waving their hands out of the window when the fire broke.</s>At least 24 students and teachers have died in a fire at a religious school in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The fire at the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The victims are thought to been trapped in their dormitory as the windows were barred with metal grills.

“It is one of the country’s worst fire disasters in the past 20 years,” Khirudin Drahman, director of the fire and rescue department, told AFP.

Initial counts put the death toll at 25, but police later revised that down by one.

They said the dead were 22 students – all boys between the age of 13 and 17 – and two staff members.

The blaze was reported at around 05:40 local time on Thursday morning (21:40 GMT Wednesday). According to the police it began in the sleeping quarters.

In Islamic tahfiz schools – where children study the Koran – students often live at the school.

Images and videos circulating online showed the entire upper room of the school ablaze.

“The building was surrounded by metal grills that could not be opened from the inside. The students, after realising the fire and heavy smoke, tried to escape through the window,” Fire and Rescue Department operations deputy director Soiman Jahid told reporters outside the school.

“Because of the grills though, they could not escape.”

Mr Jahid said police were still investigating what caused the fire but that it likely was caused by short circuit or a lit mosquito repellent coil.

A neighbour living next door to the school told the Reuters news agency they heard screams and saw the flames.

“The children were crying for help, but I couldn’t help them as the door was already on fire,” he said.

Kuala Lumpur Police chief Amar Singh said the bodies were “totally burned”.

“Unfortunately there was only one entrance, so they could not escape. All the bodies were found lumped on one another.”

Officials said fire engines were at the site within minutes, and the blaze was put out within an hour.

A number of students were also taken to hospital, some suffering from smoke inhalation.

Prime Minister Najib Razak tweeted his sympathies to those affected while a government minister said the incident should be quickly investigated “so that we will be able to prevent future disasters”.

“We sympathise with the families. It is one of the worst fires involving so many lives in the capital in recent years, said Loga Bala Mohan, according to AFP.

Malaysian authorities have raised concerns about safety measures at unregulated private religious schools.

Local media report there have been more than 200 fires at such schools since 2015.</s>A Malaysian national flag flutters outside burnt windows of the school in Kuala Lumpur

A blaze at an Islamic boarding school in the Malaysian capital killed at least 23 people on Thursday, most of them teenage boys who cried for help from barred windows, officials and witnesses said.



Nik Azlan Nik Abdul Kadir (L), father of one of the victims comforts his wife. Pic/AFP

The fire broke out at around 5.40 am in a top-floor dormitory in the three-storey building, firemen said, where most of the students were sleeping in bunk beds, with many of the windows covered by metal grills. One survivor said there was just one window the boys managed to open. Two teachers were also killed in the fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah, police said, adding that most of the victims died from smoke inhalation. The disaster has renewed calls for greater scrutiny of so-called "tahfiz" schools, where students learn to memorise the Quran. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said at least 31 fires had been reported at such schools in Malaysia since 2011, adding that they must follow safety regulations.

"We will continue to carry out investigations, especially through forensics, as we found that there was some security features that should have been complied with but weren't," said Zahid. Fire department operations deputy director Soiman Jahid said the cause was likely a short circuit or a mosquito repellent coil. "The building was surrounded by metal grills that could not be opened from the inside. The students, after realising the fire and heavy smoke, tried to escape through the window," Soiman said. "But because of the grills, they could not escape." Soiman said the school had submitted a request for fire safety approval but it was still being processed.

13

No. of boys who managed to open a window and escape

31

No. of fires reported at 'tahfiz' schools since 2011</s>Firefighters rushed to the scene and the blaze was out within an hour but not before it wreaked terrible devastation.

A fire department official in Malaysia said the fire at the school killed people, mostly teenagers. (Photo: AP)

Kuala Lumpur: Twenty-five people, mostly teenage boys, were killed Thursday when a blaze tore through a Malaysian religious school, in what officials said was one of the country's worst fire disasters for years.

The blaze broke out before dawn in the tahfiz -- an Islamic religious school -- in the heart of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Firefighters rushed to the scene and the blaze was out within an hour but not before it wreaked terrible devastation.

Pictures in local media showed ash-covered, fire-blackened beds, as horrific accounts emerged of the youngsters trying to escape the school as it went up in flames and neighbours hearing their cries for help.

"The children were desperately trying to escape the flames," Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said in a television interview.

"There were metal grills which prevented them from exiting the burning building."

Kuala Lumpur Police chief Amar Singh said that "the bodies were totally burned".

"Unfortunately there was only one entrance, so they could not escape. All the bodies were found lumped on one another."

The Star newspaper reported that people in the area who had woken for morning prayers heard cries for help and saw flames engulfing the top floor of the building, where children were sleeping in dorms.

Khirudin Drahman, director of Kuala Lumpur's fire and rescue department told AFP it was one of the country's worst fire tragedies in 20 years.

- Fire safety concerns -

 Officials initially said 23 students and two teachers were killed in the blaze. Police later revised down the death toll to 22 students and two teachers.

Six other students were in hospital in critical condition, police chief Singh said, while a handful escaped unhurt.

He said the victims who were students were all boys aged between 13 and 17.

Minister Tengku Adnan said the religious school, called Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah, had been operating without a licence, while local media reported that officials had recently raised fire safety concerns about such private schools.

"The religious school did not have an operating licence from the local authorities," he said. "The school also does not have any licence from the local religious authorities."

"There are many other religious schools (that operate illegally) in the country."

Tahfiz are religious schools where children study the Koran in Malaysia, where over 60 percent of the population of about 30 million are Muslim.

The fire and rescue department had raised concerns about fire safety measures at unregistered and private tahfiz, and had recorded 211 fires at the institutions since 2015, according to the Star.

In August, 16 people including eight students fled an early morning fire at a family-run tahfiz in Baling, in the northern state of Kedah, the paper reported.

It said there was a major fire at a school in 1989 in the northern state of Kedah, which killed 27 female students.

Religious schools have been under heightened scrutiny since an 11-year-old boy died after allegedly being beaten last year at one of the institutions in the southern state of Johor.

While major fires are rare in Malaysia, they do occur occasionally.

In October last year, six people died in a fire that swept through the intensive care unit of a major hospital in the southern state of Johor.</s>KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A fire killed 24 people, mostly teenagers, trapped behind barred windows and a blocked exit in an Islamic school dormitory on the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital early Thursday, officials said.

Firefighters rushed to the scene after receiving a distress call at 5.41 a.m. and took an hour to put out the blaze, which started on the top floor of the three-story building, Kuala Lumpur police chief Amar Singh said. He said there were at least 24 charred bodies, 22 of them boys between 13 and 17, and two teachers.

Singh said 14 other students and four teachers were rescued, with six of them hospitalized in critical condition. “We believe (they died of) suffocation…the bodies were totally burnt,” he said.

The fire broke out near the door of the boys’ dormitory, trapping the victims as it was the only entrance and the windows are grilled, fire department senior official Abu Obaidat Mohamad Saithalimat said. He said the cause was believed to be a short-circuit.

A fire department official who declined to be named because he wasn’t authorized to give a statement said the bodies were piled on top of each other, indicating a possible stampede as people tried to flee the fire. The official had earlier said 25 bodies were found, but the more recent tally of dead and injured matches the number of people thought to have resided there.

Singh said police were still finalizing the details and investigating the cause.

Local media showed pictures of blackened bunk beds frames in the burned dormitory. A resident known as Norhayati told a local television station that she saw the boys crying and screaming for help, and waving their hands out of the window when the fire broke.
A fire at an Islamic boarding school for boys kills 24 people, most of them students, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.