Tahfiz fire tragedy categorised as disaster with multiple fatalities — Forensic physician

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KUALA LUMPUR: The fire tragedy at the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Centre, which claimed the lives of 23 residents including two teachers, two years ago is categorised as a disaster with multiple fatalities, according to a forensic physician.

Dr Siti Wira Md Yaro from Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) Forensic Medicine Division, said this was because several victims were killed in the tragedy.

The 53rd prosecution witness said in the management of such a disaster, an important process that needed to be done was disaster victim identification (DVI) to identify and verify victims involved.

“There are four steps in the DVI process namely, the scene phase, postmortem phase, ante-mortem phase and reconciliation phase,” she said during examination-in-chief by Kuala Lumpur prosecution director Othman Abdullah at the trial before Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah here yesterday.

Dr Siti Wira said that in conducting the process she had to take 18 blood specimens from the next-of-kin of 18 victims between 11am and 8.35pm on Sept 14, 2017, on the day of the incident.

She said together with two other HKL forensic medicine officers namely Dr Nurhidayah Mohd Yatim and Dr Ahmad Dzulkefly they were assigned to the ante-mortem phase and they had met up with the victims’ next-of-kin to get information about the victims.

“We visited the next-of-kin to get the victims’ physical characteristics, personal belongings and to find out if the victims had any physical defect, medical record or dental record,” she said.

Meanwhile Dr Nurhidayah the 54th prosecution witness said, she had taken blood specimen from a victim’s next-of-kin while Dr Ahmad the 55th prosecution witness said he took 17 specimens.

At the proceeding today the blood specimens which had been taken were presented as exhibits and were identified by the three forensic officers.

Two teenage boys, then aged 16, were jointly charged with murdering and causing the death of the 23 residents at the tahfiz centre at Jalan Keramat Hujung, Kampung Datuk Keramat, here, between 4.15am and 6.45am on Sept 14, 2017.

The two accused, now aged 18, each face 23 counts of murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides a mandatory death sentence, upon conviction.

However, Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001 states that a death sentence shall not be pronounced or recorded against a person convicted of an offence if the child is under the age of 18, and in lieu of the death sentence, as provided under Section 97 (2) of the same law, the court shall order the person to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Section 94 of the same law also empowers the court to order the parents or guardians of the child offender to pay a fine or provide compensation.

The hearing before Judge Azman continues today. — Bernama