Compiled by ALLISON LAI, IYLIA MARSYA ISKANDAR and R. ARAVINTHAN
A FIRE in the middle of lessons sent teachers and pupils of SJK(T) Batu Arang in Selangor scrambling for safety, reported Malaysia Nanban.
During the incident on Monday, a teacher had noticed smoke billowing from a workshop at about 11.40am and quickly informed the headmistress, Munimmah Chinniah.
Munimmah said she and the teachers quickly cleared the classrooms and led the pupils away from the school buildings.
The teachers tried to put out the fire with extinguishers after contacting the Fire and Rescue Department but the blaze quickly grew too big.
Three fire trucks were dispatched from the Batu Arang, Batang Berjuntai, and Rawang fire stations but could not get through the main entrance, according to a parent-teacher association member Shanmuganathan Velu.
After successfully reaching the school through an adjacent housing area, the department personnel finally put out the fire in about 40 minutes.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
