Arwa Al-Sheikh, who owns Baraim Al-Watan School for girls, said she was "shocked and surprised" after the five girls admitted to accidentally causing the fire, which killed three teachers and injured 46 students.
She warned against stigmatizing the students or passing premature judgment on them.
"We should wait for the results of formal investigations ordered by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal,” Al-Sheikh told Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper.
She said the five students sneaked into the basement to test the fire-warning system out of curiosity, but had to escape when the fire they started began to spread. "The girls were too frightened to report the incident to the school authorities," she said.
Al-Sheikh denied the basement was a neglected area or that it had been used as a storage utility and said it was connected to other facilities in the building, including a computer laboratory, a hall for home economics studies, a games room and a theater.
She said the basement had all safety measures, including emergency exits, in place as specified by the Civil Defense.
Quoting some official reports, Al-Sheikh said the five students wanted to test the fire-warning system out of curiosity. "They burned some papers in the eight square meter basement, but when they saw fire spreading they got frightened and ran away," she added.
Al-Sheikh said smoke and toxic fumes started to spread all over the school, causing panic and suffocation. "The teachers and students began to jump out of the windows and a number of parents rushed to the school to save their daughters," she said.
The school owner denied any slackness or delay by the Civil Defense but said its units faced difficulties in reaching the school due to the crowds and haphazard parking which blocked the road. "The crowds also obstructed the ambulances when they arrived," she added.
Al-Sheikh denied any criminal intent on the part of the students who started the blaze, saying they only wanted to test the smoke detectors.
"Ironically, their attempt to test the equipment came after a drill during which all students and teachers were trained on evacuation plans in case of a fire," she added.
Al-Sheikh said during the drill, the entire school was evacuated in just three minutes.
She said though teachers and students were trained on the evacuation plan, they failed to carry it out because of the panic.
The school owner warned that the students should be rehabilitated instead of punished.
Al-Sheikh ruled out a faulty electric connections or combustible chemicals in the lab as other possible causes of the fire.
