TWO pupils at Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah stayed back in the burning building to save a baby when the fire engulfed the third floor of the school hostel early today.

Muhammad Ihsan Husin said he was on the second floor, about to flee the fire, when he heard his supervisor’s wife screaming for help, saying her baby was on the third floor.

“Ustaz’s wife was shouting, asking for help to get the baby,” said Ihsan from Penang.

“My friend climbed through the window and passed me the baby as I waited on the second floor,” he said.

Ihsan said the situation was chaotic and he did not see any victim. He said there were 34 pupils in a room and the youngest is seven.

“The door was burnt. I saw a few of them trying to detach the door grilles, so I went downstairs to help.

“We could not enter or exit the main door because it was in flames.”

A short-circuit, which happened at the main door entrance, is currently believed to be the cause of the fire.

Ihsan added that there were two gas tanks in front of the door.

“The tanks were not there last night but they were there this morning.”

The fire today claimed 23 lives in one of the worst fire disasters in the country in nearly two decades. – September 14, 2017.