KUALA LUMPUR: The murder trial of two teenage boys charged with causing the death of 23 residents at the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Centre was told that the victims in the tragic fire incident had died of smoke inhalation before their bodies were burnt.
Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) Forensic Medicine Department specialist Dr Siew Sheue Feng said the victims were found to have breathed in the products of combustion during the fire, causing them to suffocate and die before their bodies were burnt.
“Traces of soot were found in the respiratory tract of the victims which showed that they had inhaled smoke,” he said during examination-in-chief by Kuala Lumpur prosecution director Othman Abdullah at the trial before Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah, yesterday.
To a question from Azman on how long does it take for a victim to die after smoke inhalation, the 59th prosecution witness said “within a short time”.
Earlier, Dr Siew said he had performed autopsies on six of the 23 bodies and the six bodies were charred.
Dr Siew was among four forensic experts assigned to perform post-mortem examinations and collect specimens from the fire victims at the centre.
The witness said that inspections on the bodies found no other injuries except for injuries due to the fire.
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 faces 23 counts of murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides for a mandatory death sentence upon conviction. – Bernama
