THE air was still despite the crowd of about 200 people at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary who watched as the bodies of 23 victims of a tahfiz school fire were loaded onto waiting hearses, one by one.

The first body was handed over to family members at 4pm amid the heavy presence of police.

Malaysian Civil Defence Department personnel were also present to facilitate the process, calling out family members’ names when the coffins of their loved ones were brought out.

Several family members were seen crying and hugging each other when they left the mortuary.

It took almost two hours for all the bodies to be released, with the last hearse leaving the mortuary at 5.54pm.

Twenty-three hearses, one each for the 21 students and two wardens who died in yesterday’s pre-dawn blaze at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyyah school in Kampung Datuk Keramat, carried the bodies to their final resting place in different parts of the country.

The bodies were first taken to the surau at the hospital quarters for funeral prayers before departing for burial.

Hearse driver Mohamad Rizuan Abu Bakar said he was nervous despite his experience ferrying the dead.

“I’m used to driving a hearse, but I’m a bit nervous this time around because I know one of the victims and his father. They are from Masjid Abu Ubaidah in Taman Sri Rampai.

“I’m sad that this has happened to my friend,” the 38-year-old said.

His friend is Nasrun Mat Yusof, who lost his youngest son, Mohd Izmuddin, 12.

Nasrun’s elder son, Zunnur Misrin 15, is in critical condition, and is being treated at HKL for severe burns on his back.

The crowd at the hospital, which included family members of the victims, had been waiting at the mortuary since morning.

Yesterday, the victims’ next of kin gave their DNA for the identification process as the bodies were badly burnt.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah earlier said the 23 victims had been identified via DNA testing.

Eleven of the victims were brought to the Raudhatul Sakinah Muslim cemetery in Gombak to be buried. – September 15, 2017.