Maulvi saves 15 kids trapped in madarsa after fire breaks out

The alertness of 26-year-old Sulaiman who is a maulvi in a madarsa saved the lives of at least 15 kids when a massive fire broke out at Jamia Nagar on Thursday night.

Sulaiman was sleeping on the ground floor when he was awakened by shouts and cries at around 11.40 pm. As he got out, he saw a massive fire in jhuggis in a plot metres away from the madarsa. Sulaiman soon realised that the lives of the 15 children who were sleeping on the first floor are in danger. Instead of running for his life, he ran inside the madarsa to the first floor.

The children who were sleeping unaware were woken up by Sulaiman and brought down immediately to a safer place.

"The flames were high and I knew that if I do not react swiftly, all 15 children sleeping on the first floor of the madarsa might be trapped. I ran upstairs and finally got all of them down to safety," said Sulaiman.

The madarsa houses 15 students from Bihar, UP and Uttarakhand. Many more come for the Arabic tuitions during the day. As Millennium Post was talking to Sulaiman, the children of the madarsa gathered around him. One of the child Mohammad Rais, who comes from Deoria in UP said: "Sulaiman bhai rushed me outside from the madarsa. I got some injuries on my right hand though but my life was saved."

The fire broke out in the jhuggis in a plot in Joga Bai Extension in Jamia Nagar that soon spread to nearby houses including the madarsa. Soon, several fire tenders rushed to the spot but locals alleged that the response was late.

"The fire tenders came late and hence it took hours to douse the flames. The locals were the first to help. The jhuggies have been completely burnt," said Mahmood Ahmed, a resident of the area.

However, no casualty was reported though people from the jhuggis said that they have lost their belongings in the fire.