Muhammad Azhari Mahmod, 40, said his wife, 30, who was two months pregnant with their fifth child, kept thinking about the tragedy.
“My wife says she still hears the children (tahfiz students) screaming in pain during the incident,” he told reporters at the scene, here today.
Relating the events leading up to the fire, he said his wife was praying when she heard the sound of gas leaking and smelled something bad, before their eldest daughter told her a fire had broken out at the door of the third level.
Muhammad Azhari who arrived yesterday from performing the haj said, he could do little else but pray for his family’s safety when informed about the incident.
He said his wife and their daughter Siti Nur Safiyah, 2, were rushed to Kuala Lumpur Hospital soon after before being discharged on Friday.
“My wife and daughter were rescued by students and firefighters. I am grateful they are safe. But my daughter is still having a cough,” he said.
Muhammad Azhari said his eldest daughter Siti Nur Fatimah, 12, who was sitting for the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) the very day of the fire, had to borrow a school uniform from other family members since hers was destroyed in the raging fire.
“Alhamdulillah. She managed to answer the exam questions well,” he said.
The 5.15am fire on Thursday claimed the lives of 21 students and two teachers after they were trapped in the three-storey building that was engulfed in flames.