HUNDREDS of parents have sought to enrol their children in the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah centre, where 19 students and two teachers were killed in a horrific fire two months ago, said principal Mohd Zahid Mahmood.

“I received hundreds of calls from parents who kept asking how to enrol their kids in the centre.

“I asked them, were they not afraid after what had happened? They told me that one could die at any time, but it’s better to die on the path blessed by God,” he said when met at Sekolah Agama Rakyat Ar-Ridwan in Tasek Gelugor, Penang.

Zahid was there in his capacity as Federation of National Associations of Al-Quran Tahfiz Institutions president, visiting tahfiz centres in Penang and Kedah affected by the recent floods.

He said since the fire tragedy, Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah had received 50 official applications from parents who wanted to enrol their children in the school.

He said the number of applications had exceeded the number of vacancies at the centre.

“We have received about 50 requests, but we can only accept 30, in addition to the 20 students we have so far.”

Zahid said the new school session for the centre would begin by the end of the month or next month, depending on the completion of the new tahfiz centre building in Jalan Datuk Keramat, which has been undergoing renovations since early this year.

The building had received several notices from the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department. The centre’s administration will be penalised if it fails to comply with the notices given.

Zahid said among the building requirements was the installation of smoke detectors, fire hydrants, heat detectors and standard grilles for windows approved by the Fire and Rescue Department.

“The Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department also instructed us to tear down a few walls. It is because the building has to be transferred from the current status (residential) to (that of) an institution.”

He added that the centre’s management was trying its best to comply with the notices.

“It takes a bit of time because it requires more than RM200,000 to tear down the physical structure, as well as for the purchase and installation of the devices.”

He said if the building was not ready by next month, students and teachers would be moved to the centre’s other building at Safuan Plaza in Jalan Chow Kit.

Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah was set on fire on September 14.

The perpetrators had not only doused a door and walls of the building with gasoline, but also used a gas cylinder to accelerate the fire.

The case was classified as murder after investigations showed that the building had been deliberately set ablaze.

Three youths were charged with murder, with the trial ongoing. – November 8, 2017.