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. 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. 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. Initial investigations showed the small, all-boys school was operating without a fire-safety permit, though it had applied for one, fire authorities said. 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. 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.
A fire at an Islamic boarding school for boys kills 24 people, most of them students, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.