In the aftermath of yesterday’s tahfiz school fire, Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar urged the Fire and Rescue Department to immediately identify schools at risk of fire in Johor.

Besides tahfiz schools, this also includes madrasah, tuition centres, boarding schools and primary and secondary schools.

“All building by-laws must be strictly complied with. Local authorities must take action to close down any premises found operating illegally.

“It is especially important that school buildings, including privately run tahfiz schools, meet full safety standards,” the Johor ruler said in a Facebook posting today.

Sultan Ibrahim stressed that such schools must have proper licenses or permits, or risk being shut down immediately.

All stakeholders must take safety seriously to ensure that such a tragedy as the tahfiz school fire does not occur in Johor, the ruler added.

He also expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the fire victims yesterday.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives. I pray Allah will give the families strength and patience to grieve the loss of their loved ones,” he said to the Royal Press Office.

A fire broke out at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school in Kuala Lumpur yesterday around 5.15am. As many as 21 students and two teachers were killed in the fire at the school in Jalan Keramat Hujung.

Fire Department deputy director-general Soiman Jahid said that the school did not have a fire safety permit, while Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor confirmed that it also did not have permission to operate on the premises it was occupying.

It was also reported that the razed building was just a temporary placement for its occupants, as the school’s original building was under renovation.

School principal Mohd Zahid Mahmood said that the occupants were supposed to move back to the original building at the end of the month, after completion of the renovation.