Fire at an Islamic Boarding School in Malaysia Leaves 23 Dead

A fire at an Islamic boarding school near Kuala Lumpur resulted in the deaths of 23 people. The fire occurred on Thursday morning, September 14, and the only exit of the building was blocked. According to Omar Singh, the police chief of Kuala Lumpur, 21 boys aged 13 to 17 and two teachers were killed in the incident. He stated that firefighters arrived at the scene immediately after an emergency call made at 5:41 AM, and it took an hour to control the fire and rescue some individuals trapped inside the building. The police chief reported that 18 people were rescued, including 14 students and four teachers. The report also includes statements from a senior fire department official in Malaysia, who noted that the fire started near the only entrance to the boys' dormitory, preventing students from escaping as the dormitory windows were barred. He indicated that the fire department believes the cause of the incident was an electrical short circuit, but the Kuala Lumpur police have announced that they will continue their investigation. The incident also left seven injured, with health officials in Malaysia describing the condition of four of them as critical. The "Dar al-Quran Ittafaqiah" school, where the fire occurred, is a private Islamic educational institution primarily for boys. The Associated Press reports that since 2015, there have been 211 cases of fires in private Islamic educational institutions. These schools have also been the scene of tragic incidents in previous years, the deadliest of which was in 1989 when 27 girls were killed.