There's Been More Than 200 Fire Cases At Malaysian Tahfiz Schools In The Past 2 Years

A deadly fire at Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah in Kampung Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, claimed the lives of 23 people, including two of the school's wardens and 21 students between the ages of 6 and 16.

The authorities said that this incident is one of the fire-related incidents in the country with the highest death tolls.

According to media reports, initial investigations revealed that the victims tried to escape when the fire broke out, but were trapped by grilles on the windows.

News Straits Times reported that there was only one door to enter and exit the building, and there was no fire exit.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar also revealed that the school building was built without the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC). However, it was noted that the building management did apply for a fire safety permit.

This was revealed by the Fire and Rescue Department records, as reported by The Star Online in August.

The statistics seem to suggest that there is one fire case involving a tahfiz school every three to four days.

In the report, the English daily also cited Noh Omar, who said that the number of fires at tahfiz and religious schools have been increasing yearly.

Its director-general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim admitted that it was difficult to monitor if fire safety measures are in place in these unregistered and private establishments that are "mushrooming" in the country due to limited resources, The Star reported last month.

He explained that it was difficult for the department's enforcement unit and the local governments to keep tabs because these tahfiz schools could be operating from even a wooden house or a single unit built in the middle of nowhere.

"For the past three years, we have embarked on programmes to educate imam, congregations and local committee leaders nationwide on this matter, with little success," Wan Mohd Nor said, adding that they are still putting in efforts to engage with the schools to educate them and to ensure that proper fire safety measures are being implemented.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters yesterday that the government is deeply concerned with the level of security involving children studying at all schools - be it public or private.

It is learned that tahfiz schools were offered training exercises and they were urged to form fire and rescue volunteering units in May, but some of them resisted and expressed their worries that the government may be meddling in their affairs.

"We would like to prioritise the children's safety but these schools view our monitoring as an interference in their administration," Ahmad Zahid was quoted as saying in a report by The Sun Daily.

"There are operators of tahfiz centres who are adamant and refused to register (with the Islamic religious councils). The operators fear that the council will interfere with the education system and syllabus taught at their respective centres," he added.

The list of fire incidents that was published by Bernama is available here.