One student dies, two injures in a fire at religious school

A student of Maahad Tahfiz Al-Barakah (Mantab), Kampung Masjid, Tikam Batu, near here died while two of his friends were injured in a fire at the school's hostel at about 2am today.

The dead student was identified as Aiman Nurhakim Yahya, 13, who was a first year student who started his studies there early this year. His friends who escaped with light injuries were Meor Amirul Meor Mohd Ghazali, 16, and Mohamad Muaz Halim, 14.

A student who escaped from the fire, Mohammad Iszuddin Mohd Iszam, 14, said that during the incident, he was sleeping with his friends before being awakened by a friend who realised that the fire was spreading.

"When I woke up, I immediately went to wake up four other friends who were sleeping on the first floor, including Aiman, who was sleeping at the far end of the room. All the other friends had woken up and left the hostel to escape from the fire.

"We thought Aiman too had come out of the hostel, but he was still inside. The fire spread rapidy because the upper floor of the hostel was made of wood. We had no time to rescue Aiman," he said when approached by Bernama at the scene.