NONE of the victims who died in a fire at a tahfiz school in Kuala Lumpur this morning has been identified as authorities need to get DNA samples from family members first, said Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam.

He confirmed that the death toll from the pre-dawn fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Tahfiz Centre in Jalan Datuk Keramat stood at 23.

The identification process may take days as most of the victims were badly burnt, he said.

“To identify them, we need to carry out DNA testing. The DNA testing might take some time, followed by the pairing process, to confirm the identities of the victims based on DNA,” he told reporters at Kuala Lumpur Hospital after visiting survivors of the incident.

Dr Subramaniam said 14 people escaped the blaze and seven were being treated in hospital.

“The fourteen escaped by breaking the grilles and jumping down while holding on to the pipes. In the process, they sustained different degrees of injury.

“We have those with broken bones… their legs, and some fractured their femur, pelvis, and some sustained injuries to the lungs and liver.”

Of the seven receiving treatment, four are critically injured.

“Seven of them are here, and we will do our best to save them,” said Dr Subramaniam.

The seven are students Indera Kurniawan (13), Muhd Shahir Sharifuddin (11), Zunnun Misri (12), Adib Baqir (15), Muhammad Syamin Che Azmi (18) and Wan Muhammad Danish Hisham Wan Nor Hisham (14), as well as cook Sufian Emmad (20). 

Indera is Indonesian. – September 14, 2017.