The funerals of students who perished in yesterday’s pre-dawn fire at the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah religious residential school were held in a sombre atmosphere.
Twenty-one students were killed in the fire, with 11 of them, including three siblings, buried at the Raudhatul Sakinah cemetery in Taman Batu Muda, near Kuala Lumpur.
Nine others were also buried tonight at cemeteries in several locations - Jalan Ampang; Taman Kosas; Dato’ Keramat; Taman Medan, Jalan Klang Lama; Bukit Kuari, Cheras; and in Puchong.
The remains of three others will be buried in Paroi Jaya, Seremban (Negeri Sembilan), Pengkalan Kubur (Kelantan) and in Sungkai (Perak).
As at 7.30pm today, only the remains of Muhammad Aidil Aqmal Mohd Zamzuri, 10, was buried at the Raudhatul Sakinah cemetery in Taman Batu Muda, while that of Muhammad Haikal Abdullah, 12, at the Datuk Keramat cemetery.
Besides the remains of Muhammad Aidil Aqmal, the bodies of 10 other victims, aged between 10 and 16, were buried in a common grave at the Raudhatul Sakinah cemetery after the Maghrib prayer.
The funeral services received wide coverage by the local media and several television stations did a live telecast at the scene.
Large crowds gathered at the affected cemeteries to show their sympathy and offered their condolences to family members of the victims, as well as offered prayers to the victims.
Besides the 21 students, two wardens of the tahfiz school were also killed in the fire.
The students and the two wardens were trapped in the building that had grilles on the door and windows in the 5.15am fire.
Six other students sustained injuries.
DNA tests used to identify the dead
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said earlier today that all the 23 victims who perished in the incident have been identified via DNA tests.
All the remains underwent the identification process at the National Forensic Medicine Institute (IPFN) at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, and parents of the victims notified for further undertakings and closure, Moor Hisham said in a Facebook posting today.
Two of the six injured students are still in critical condition and have yet to regain consciousness at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahya said both students suffered severe burns, with one of them also sustaining a broken rib.
“The medical team is giving their best to save the students,” he said after opening the Penang Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Malaysia Day parade in Permatang Pauh on mainland Penang today.
Hilmi said four other students and a civilian who were injured in the fire, were reported to be in stable condition.
“They sustained various injuries, including a broken arm, a broken leg, and a broken rib,” he said.
- Bernama
