WITNESSES at the scene of the fire at a tahfiz (religious) school said they could see the children trapped inside the building trying to escape and calling out for help, until the raging fires and choking smoke engulfed them.

“I could hear ‘Tolong! Tolong! Api! Api! (Help, help, fire, fire)’ the loudest,” said one witness, Ahmad.

Ahmad arrived at the scene about 5.30am, some 10 minutes after the fire was believed to have started.

“The children were trying to get out, but the windows had grilles,” he said.

The screams for help from Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah in Jalan Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, gradually quietened down and stopped as raging flames and thick smoke enveloped the entire building, he said.

Another witness, whose house is in front of the school, said he saw two boys jump from the side windows on the third floor, where the grilles were broken.

The witness, who declined to be named, said he saw hands flailing from the inside of a window on the other end of the floor as children tried to call for help.

“They tried to escape but failed. I saw them, one by one, slowly collapsing.”

Deputy director-general (operations) of the Fire and Rescue Department Soiman Jahid said by the time fire trucks arrived at the scene at 5.52am, about 80% or 90% of the school’s hostel was on fire. The department received a call on the fire at 5.41am.

Firefighters heard screams for help from within the building but only managed to save five pupils at the time.

After the fire was brought under control, they searched all levels and found bodies on the third floor.

The bodies of the pupils were found in groups on this floor. Thirteen were in one corner and were badly burnt.

“One body was found at the doorway to the main staircase and eight more in another corner,” Soiman said.

Asked whether the school’s building and fire safety plans had been approved, Soiman said the school just recently submitted its application and the department had not done any assessment yet.

The tragedy, in which 23 died, is believed to be the worst fire disasters in the country in the past two decades. –  September 14, 2017.