BATU PAHAT: A 15-year-old tahfiz student's decision to go upstairs in his school hostel after a class activity may well have saved the lives of 29 others.
Mohd Amirul Arief Mohd Khairul Fadzli said that upon climbing the stairs, he saw that the building had caught fire.
"I was terrified when I saw the fan and bed engulfed in flames," he said.
"I ran down and told my ustaz to call the Fire and Rescue Department."
Amirul said that the flames grew in the blink of an eye.
In the 8.15am incident, Amirul and 29 others were left with just the clothes on their backs after the three-year-old Maahad Tahfiz Al Johari in Parit Raja was razed.
The head of the tahfiz said that the fire happened so quickly that everything in the building was destroyed in 15 minutes.
He said the students were not able to save their belongings.
"The students will now be housed in another building near the mosque," he said, adding that the students' parents had been notified.
Earlier, it was reported that a fire broke out at the tahfiz. No injuries or casualties were reported during the incident.