“The deadliest fire in decades in Malaysia” – these were the words on the Al Jazeera portal on the fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Religious Residential School in Kuala Lumpur early this morning.

The incident, in which 23 people died, caught the attention of the international media including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Cable News Network (CNN), Hindustan Times and Deccan Herald (both of India) and The Telegraph (UK), with their own reports as well as quoting Agence France Presse (AFP) and Reuters. 

CNN carried its news report titled “21 children, 2 adults killed in a fire at Malaysian school” while BBC reported, "Kuala Lumpur school fire kills students and teachers".

The Jakarta Post and Jakarta Globe (Indonesia), as well as Channel News Asia (Singapore), also reported the tragedy.

Meanwhile, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) carried the news with the title “Kuala Lumpur school fire kills at least 23, mostly students, officials say". 

As many as 21 students and two teachers who were also wardens were killed in the fire at the school in Jalan Keramat Hujung at 5.15 am today.

Meanwhile, the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Tengku Permaisuri Selangor, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin also expressed their condolences to the families of the 23 victims who were killed in the fire.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in his Twitter account also expressed his sadness with the posting: “Innalillah. Very sad to read that the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Religious Residential School caught fire and killed more than 20 people. May their souls be blessed by Allah. Al-Fatihah.’

Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Malaysia, Marianne Clark-Hattingh in a statement issued today said Unicef conveyed its condolences to the parents and families of the victims and hoped that the safety aspects in all schools are given priority to ensure such an incident does not happen again.

“Sadly, these deaths could have been avoided. This incident is a stark reminder of the importance to ensure the safety and protection of children in all learning environments,” she said.

Meanwhile, many netizens also conveyed their condolences and shared their sadness over the tragedy.

Actress and entrepreneur Neelofa in her Facebook account said: "May Allah give strength to the parents and the families. May the souls of the children and teachers (who died) be blessed.”

- Bernama