SUNGKAI: The brother of Mohd Yusof Md, a teacher who perished in the blaze that destroyed a tahfiz school, has forgiven the alleged arsonists.
Nor Azam, 42, said he wished to meet them and give advice “so that they will repent.
“I have forgiven them and I believe that they just wanted to scare off the students and didn’t mean to kill them,” he said at his mother’s home in Felda Besout 4 after a “tahlil” (prayers) session for his brother here today.
About 100 family members and settlers attended the tahlil at about 11am.
Nor Azam said he believed that the teenagers were immature in making decisions.
“I hope this tragic incident will be a lesson to other teenagers,” he added.
Meanwhile, the father of 13-year-old Muhammad Nizammudin Nasrun, who perished in the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school pre-dawn fire on Thursday, has forgiven the culprits responsible for the tragedy.
Nasrun Mat Yusuf,46, said there was no point harbouring anger and all he wanted now was to have his other son, Zunnun Misri, 15, who survived the fire, nursed back to health.
Zunnun is currently warded at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital burn intensive care unit (ICU).
He suffered 19 per cent burn on his back and scheduled to undergo a surgery tomorrow.
"I accept the incident as fate. The tragedy has happened. There is nothing I can do to bring Nizammudin back.
"I forgive them (the suspects). I cannot bring myself to meet them or their families yet because it will only remind me of my dead son.
"But I hope they and their future generations will receive guidance from God after what had happened," said Nasrun, adding that he will let law take its course.
Nasrun, who was met during the hospital's visiting hours, said Zunnun had told him that he smelt gas and heard loud hissing sound before trying to wake his younger brother and his schoolmates.
"However, his brother refused to wake up. The smoke became thicker and chaos ensued which forced him to escape the dormitory by climbing down while holding on to drain pipes.
"Zunnun had asked what happened but I do not think I want to tell him yet. I also do not want to share pictures of the incident or the suspects' information as I want him to fully recover first.
"I do not plan to let him continue studies at the school after this," said Nasrun.
On Thursday, the nation was rocked by news that a deadly fire broke out at Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Tahfiz school in Kampung Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, which claimed the lives of 23 people including two teachers.
The incident has been described as the country’s worst fire disaster in 20 years.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Amar Singh had reportedly said police believed that they had solved the case with the arrest of seven teenagers aged between 11 and 18.
The teenagers, six of them tested positive for ganja, had allegedly intended to burn down the school in an act of revenge over a name-calling incident that happened just days before the fire.