Noura Al-Fayez, deputy minister of education, visited Al-Jada’ani Hospital in Jeddah, where she spoke to 10 injured students and their parents.

The students, aged between five and 15, are still in Al-Jada’ani Hospital. One four-year-old student is still in the intensive care unit.

Al-Fayez spoke to the students’ parents, with one angry father accusing the Ministry of Education. She gave him her business card and said that she was ready to receive all complaints directly.

Razan Al-Najjar, a student in the intermediate section, narrated her story to the deputy minister. She said that the students on the third floor escaped to the teachers’ room after the fire had increased and the smoke had surrounded them. She said that they broke the window and jumped out of it, which is why they were wounded, with some of them in a critical case.

Student Diana Al-Najjar said that the students threw themselves out of the window before the Civil Defense arrived. She said that the teachers did not know how to use the available fire extinguishers.

Mamdouh Al-Etaibi, father of a student in the private school, confirmed that people in the street reacted much faster than the authorities. He said that his daughter escaped to the school’s roof after suffering from suffocation.

He added, “We need to boost the students’ and teachers’ skills and teach them how to face a crisis successfully.”

When the fire bells sounded, he said, initially the teachers thought it was a test and there was no fire in the school.

According to Al-Etaibi, a fire had broken out in the school last year, but it was a small one and not as dangerous as the fire this year.

Al-Fayez also visited the student who is still in the intensive care unit but refused to comment on the case.

Abdullah Al-Thaqafi, director of education in Makkah, said that they were ready to serve all parents. Classes will be interrupted for a week, and a team of psychological experts will visit the students.