24 dead in religious school fire in Malaysia

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Updated at 1:00 p.m. BJT

A total of 24 people died in a fire at a religious school in Kuala Lumpur early Thursday morning, said a Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department official.

The latest death toll stands at 24, including 22 students and teachers of the school, said Soiman Jahid, deputy director of the Fire and Rescue Department.

The fire department said earlier that at least 25 were killed in the fire.

"The children were desperately trying to escape the flames," Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said in a television interview.

"There were metal grills which prevented them from exiting the burning building." Kuala Lumpur Police chief Amar Singh said that "the bodies were totally burned".

Malaysian Fire and Rescue personnel stand outside the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah religious school in Kuala Lumpur on September 14, 2017. /AFP Photo

"Unfortunately there was only one entrance, so they could not escape. All the bodies were found lumped on one another."

Local authority said that it was one of the country's worst fire tragedies in 20 years.

Updated at 9:20 a.m. BJT

At least 25 people, mostly students, were killed after a fire broke out at a religious school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia early on Thursday morning.

The fire was reported at around 5:40 a.m. (2140 GMT), according to a statement from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department.

"The number of confirmed dead are 23 students and two wardens", said Khirudin Drahman, director of Kuala Lumpur's Fire and Rescue Department, according to AFP.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

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