21 children, 2 adults killed in fire at Malaysian school

A fire that broke out at a school in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur killed at least 21 students, who were aged between 13 and 17 years old, officials said. The blaze, which broke out at a religious school in the early hours of Thursday, also left two adults dead. When emergency responders first arrived on the scene, "almost 90% of the building was already on fire," fire department official Soiman Jahid told reporters

"The firemen could hear crises for help from inside the building," he said. "The first team from ... fire station managed to save five of the children from the lower level."
Jahid said firefighters found bodies in three different locations, all of them badly burned. A large number of bodies were piled on top of each other, while another was found in front of the main door.
"Based on my observation, the building has grills that could not be opened from inside," he said. "Because of the grills, they could not escape through the windows, except for the five students who escaped through the door and sought help from the firemen."
Photos from the scene showed fire damage to the top floor of the three-story Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah school. Emergency services were still at the scene mid-morning local time.