About 800 students scattered out to safety after the men's hostel block of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Section 16, Petaling Jaya, caught fire Thursday afternoon.

A fire safety officer from the SS2 Fire and Rescue Department, Mohamed Habib Alias said the incident happened when a few unused mattresses in a storeroom in the Mahallah Abu Bakr as-Siddiq hostel caught fire.

"The fire broke all four windows in the storeroom. The lights and fans in the room were also burnt.

"The hostel's security guard called the Fire and Rescue Department when he saw thick smoke coming out from the room," he told Astro AWANI when contacted.

Mohamed Habib said the department's forensic team was still investigating the cause of the fire.

It was reported that the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department received a distress call at 3.02pm and two fire trucks arrived at the scene within minutes.

The fire was reportedly put out by 3.46pm.

Pictures of the incident were widely circulated in the social media such as Twitter.






This is the second time an incident involving IIUM happened this month.

On June 4, the IIUM campus in Gombak made headlines after it was flooded, causing several cars to be submerged.