POLICE have yet to determine whether the predawn blaze that claimed 23 lives at Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Kampung Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday, was due to arson.

Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said pending the forensics report, police were unable to say whether the fire was the result of a criminal act .

“So far we are still not sure. We are looking at all angles with regards to this issue,” he said at the site of the fire, which King Sultan Muhammad V visited last night.

He urged the public to give the law enforces time to conduct a investigation.

“Give us time. We need the forensics report, we need the report from the Fire and Rescue Department,” he said.

Fuzi confirmed that police had taken the statement of a man linked to the investigation.

Local daily Harian Metro reported that police had brought a man to the scene of the fire as part of the probe.

Police have also obtained footage from CCTV cameras next door to the tahfiz centre, which is reported to have captured suspicious looking individuals loitering outside the centre the night before the fire.

The chairman of Malaysian Muslim Consumer Association (PPIM), which offices is located next to the tahfiz centre, said about 10 people were hanging around near Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah prior to the fire.

However, PPIM said it would be difficult to decipher from the footage the motive of those caught loitering near the scene, as it was a kampung area. – September 16, 2017.